In Our World: Book 3
by matthewmspace
Summary: It's been a year since Blowhole and the others were discovered. People still want to see them. I decide to take a vacation to visit everyone and also escape. That vacation is short-lived, however, when another Kowalski invention has a problem. Note: Must read Books 1 and 2 first.
1. Chapter 1 - A Needed Vacation

Welcome to chapter 1 of "In Our World: Book 3". As in my previous stories, the rules listed on my bio apply. So let's get started, shall we?

**CHAPTER 1 – A Needed Vacation**

It had been about a year since Blowhole and everyone had come here and they were discovered and the wedding. In that timeframe, it'd been nothing but chaos here. Every single person kept asking me to meet all the characters and it took forever to deny them that.

After the first month, the people I followed on social media stopped asking me questions all the time, so I'd been able to go back to doing that, even though I had to privatize my accounts. What hadn't stopped were the interviews. Literally every talk show in the morning, the evening, and late night television was asking me to come on, to say nothing of news organizations. Whenever I thought it was finally slowing down, it immediately rose back up.

"Don't forget your next interview is in an hour," my mom said as I walked towards the door. "I haven't forgot," I said, in my suit, ready for the interview. "I'm glad at least you guys have stopped asking me about meeting them," I said to her, as I closed the door behind me.

In the car, I still couldn't return to listening to podcasts or music without putting my phone into airplane mode. I was still getting thousands of emails a day. Boy, was I getting tired of this.

I arrived at the news station in San Francisco, where my interview was. I naturally had to take my car, because whenever I took BART or other means, it'd be non-stop questions from total strangers. *

It was time for the interview. I greeted my interviewer, who said we'd be taking questions from the Internet. I agreed to that, yet we had to ignore questions about _Can we meet the characters_ and the like.

"Welcome back everyone. Next up is a special guest who a year ago changed our understanding of the fourth wall, Matthew [last name withheld]," my interviewer said. ** "Hello. It's great to be here," I said, speaking to him and the camera. "Now, this happened nearly a year ago, yet it's still one of the biggest topics. We'll be taking some questions from the people watching this at home," the interviewer said.

Almost immediately, Tweets and Facebook posts started hitting the computer on the table. "It seems people really are still interested in this," I said. "Yes, they certainly appear to be. Let's answer this question first," the interviewer said, pointing to one. _Have you talked to your friends in the past year?,_ the question asked.

"Actually, I have a few times, but in the last few months it's been quiet," I answered. "Knowing them, they're probably doing something important back in their dimension," I said.

Another question appeared, saying _You said you were a Penguin when you traveled there. How is that possible?_ I answered the question with, "Well, honestly I don't know. But that picture on your screen of the six of us proves that I was. Even Kowalski, who usually knows the answers to such things, was stumped."

After about 45 minutes, including commercials, the final question appeared. _Why did you sue the company that owned the show?_ "I sued them because I had to get control of their lives away from them. Who knows what could have happened? They could have broken up Skipper and Marlene or worse. That lawsuit was hard, but as you all know, I won it," I said.

"How did you win it?" my interviewer asked. "I think it may have been nearly calling all five of them in as witnesses. At that point, I think the company sided with me," I answered.

"Well, that's it for today folks," the interviewer said, wrapping up the show. "We're clear!" one of the crew working said after the camera stopped filming. "Thanks for the interview," my interviewer said. "It's no trouble," I said and headed back to the car to go home.

"I am getting tired of these interviews and questions. What I need is a vacation," I thought to myself while driving home. "There's nowhere I can go on this Earth without questions being asked, though," I thought. I then realized I could ask the five if I could come visit them when I got home.

When I got home, it was just myself again, like it had been all that time ago. I got into normal clothes out of the suit. The only suit I had liked was the natural one I had while I had been a Penguin.

I dug around my closet, looking for the Universal Walkie Talkie. I found it, and remembering Skipper had said to call first, I pressed the calling button. After a few seconds, I got a beep, which sounded like voicemail.

"Hello, is anyone there?" I asked. Suddenly someone picked up the other Walkie Talkie. "Which one of Kowalski's inventions are you?" I heard an unfamiliar male voice ask me. "There is actually someone on the other end of this phone, you know," I said. "The only phones I know of are the ones my parents and their friends have, along with the humans," the voice responded.

"What are you doing Sam?" I heard a female voice in the background say. "Quiet Anna, I'm trying to figure out what this is," Sam said. "You know Mom and Dad said to never touch Kowalski's inventions. Besides, they left me in charge because I'm older so I'm ordering you to put that down," Anna said.

"You're only a few minutes older than me," I heard Sam say. "Yes, but that gives me an advantage over you, so I'm still ordering you to put that invention down," I heard Anna say. "What are you two doing?" I heard Skipper say. I guessed that he walked into the lab over there.

"This device started speaking to me, so I started talking back," Sam said. "Let me have it. It's only the Universal Walkie Talkie. I guess we forgot to tell you about this invention. Now go help your mother clean up," Skipper said.

"Hi, Skipper," I said through the phone still. "Well, hello, Matthew. Why are you calling today?" Skipper asked. "I need a vacation. Ever since last year, everyone has been asking me to meet you all. There's nowhere here I can go without questions," I explained.

"Well, then it's time for a vacation I guess. Give us a few minutes so we can put you into the system. When you see a portal, that's the time to come," Skipper said. "Thanks," I said. "No problem. Sorry about those two, they're both a blessing and a curse," Skipper said and then hung up the phone.

"I wonder what he meant by that," I thought. Guessing that I would probably find out soon, I shrugged it off for a few minutes. While I waited for the portal to appear, I wrote my family a note saying that I was going on vacation and should be back in a few weeks.

I grabbed the stuff I would probably need, such as my wallet and phone. A portal appeared outside, so I headed out. I jumped through the portal and was being changed into a Penguin. "This is still weird," I thought to myself. Up ahead, I could see another Portal leading into the HQ and headed towards it.

That's it for chapter 1. Please rate and review. Time for notes.

* Sorry if it sounds like I'm being negative. But wouldn't you be, too?

** I'd put a name of a famous TV interview person, but due to the rules on the site, I cannot. Also, yeah, not revealing my last name.


	2. Chapter 2 - Some New Friends

Welcome to chapter 2. As usual, *'s means notes, (P) means a perspective change, and _italicized_ words means reading or quoting of a character. Let's start.

**CHAPTER 2 – Some New Friends**

Miraculously, nothing else happened before I reached the other portal. I arrived in the HQ and there was no one there. "Guys?" I asked aloud. Suddenly an alarm rang out, saying "Evacuate." I quickly ran outside and started looking around. Suddenly, tennis balls came flying out of nowhere at me. * I was dodging and swatting the balls away, trying to figure out where they were coming from so I could stop it.

Suddenly, the tennis balls stopped and I started getting punched at by some invisible figures. Thinking Blowhole might be back and using invisible lobsters on me after kidnapping everyone, I just reacted. I started fighting back and heard several splashes after punching the figures back.

"Well done, soldier. It seems you haven't lost your touch," Skipper's voice suddenly said. Suddenly, seven figures appeared on the other side of the platform. "Well thank you. I've been practicing. I didn't hurt you guys, did I?" I asked worried a bit. "We're fine," Marlene replied. "Good. It certainly is nice to see all of you again," I said.

"It's nice to see you as well," Private said. "So who are you two?" I asked the sixth and seventh figures who had attacked along with the original five. One was an Otter, while the other was a Penguin. "I'm Annabelle, but please call me Anna," the Otter said. "And I'm Samuel, but please call me Sam," the Penguin said. ** "Well, it's nice to meet you guys as well. It looks like they've trained you well," I said to them.

"Thank you. It's always nice to hear feedback from other animals on how we're doing," Anna said. "Alright, let's finish this in a bit. Let's clean up the equipment first," Skipper ordered. As quick as we all could, we grabbed the tennis balls and stored them away inside the HQ. "Well done everyone, it's a new record. You all know what this means…" Skipper said, pausing for dramatic effect.

We all eagerly waited for him to say those two magic words. "Snow cones!" Skipper finished. We all cheered and started heading outside the zoo. We quickly took care of the snow cone guy and sat down at the pond.

"So how was your past year home?" Private asked me. "Well, besides the interviews, endless requests from people to meet you, and a lawsuit, I'd say it's been pretty good. "What lawsuit?" Kowalski asked.

"I heard they were planning to make a movie about all of you. Thinking it might erase everything here; I had to sue the company making it. Thankfully I won, so now I technically own the rights to your likeness back home," I answered.

"What do you mean, you own us?" Marlene asked. "Oh, no, not in that sense. I had to sue the company that previously owned the rights in order to protect your free will. By getting the rights to the show and the movies, I was able to shut them both down, making sure you will remain in control of your lives. I'd never change a thing here," I explained.

"How did you win the lawsuit?" Kowalski asked. "I think inadvertently through you guys. I was going to call you in as witnesses, but as soon as that idea was brought up, the company decided to end the lawsuit and give me full rights," I explained.

"How come they backed off so fast?" Skipper asked. "I think they thought I might bring Blowhole there as well. They're still frightened of him. He's still Mind Jacked, right?" I asked. "Yes, thanks to you and Marlene, he has remained Mind Jacked," Kowalski explained. "That's a relief," I said.

"So how's that community back home?" Marlene asked curiously. "It's gone insane. Ever since everyone saw your wedding video, they've been trying to predict what you did on your honeymoon and even further," I said. There are quite a few people who have made drawings of what they've dubbed either _Guinotts_ or _Otenguins_," I explained. *** "What are those?" Skipper asked. "Um, they're crossbreeds. Specifically between you and Marlene," I said.

"The correct term is Pengotter," Anna and Sam said. "How do you know?" I asked curiously. "Considering we're brother and sister, I think we'd know," Anna said. "How could we forget? Matthew, meet our children," Skipper said, pointing to both Anna and Sam. "Wow, I should have guessed. They certainly look like you two," I said to Skipper and Marlene.

They both blushed. "Thank you," they said. "I still don't get how that's possible," Sam said. "I'll tell you that I don't know either. But it is a good mystery, right?" I asked the two. "Yes, but I would like to know," Anna said. "We'll tell you when you're older," Skipper and Marlene said.

"You're a mammal? But you're a Penguin like my father," Sam said, realizing what I said earlier. "Technically, I'm a penguinized human. I'd love to know how that works as well, but I like to leave it as a good mystery. It certainly makes it easier to come visit here," I said.

"I'd like some proof before considering that as an option," Sam said. I pulled out my phone, still from who knows where, and showed him a picture of myself. "You certainly do take after your father," I said to him. He smiled and said, "Thank you."

With that, we headed back to the HQ. "I've got to say, snow cones back home have nothing on these," I said. "There's no comparison to fresh snow cones from New York," Marlene said happily. "Well, this New York, at least. Believe me, I've travelled a lot. It just gets exhausting with all the jet lag," I said.

"We definitely believe you. For the last few months we vacationed around our globe. It was tiring, as you said," Private said. "So that's why the Walkie Talkie's been quiet. So I gather you skipped Madagascar and Antarctica, right?" I asked. "It took all of our effort to find a plane not going anywhere near Madagascar. Three lemurs are bad enough. I don't know if I could take a full island of them," Skipper said.

"Yes, lemurs are a handful in any universe," I said. "How would you know?" Kowalski asked curiously. "I think from the last time I came here, some part of my DNA was changed. Whenever I speak to someone who isn't human, it's still weird to hear them talk back. It freaked me out, when I heard my dog speak," I said.

"Whenever I speak to any animals besides you guys, to other people it just sounds like random gibberish. It's fun, though, to go to zoos and startle other people by talking to the animals. Many a trick I've played on so-called animal trainers and random people," I said. We all laughed at that.

"What kind of tricks have you done?" Sam asked eagerly. "Well, whenever I got done talking to yet another person who wanted to meet all of you, I asked some pigeons to, well, you know the rest," I explained. Once again, we all burst out laughing.

That's it for chapter 2. Yay for Pengotters! Please rate and review. See you in chapter 3. Let's read the notes.

* I'm referencing "Needle Point" where Skipper did a drill on the other Penguins with a tennis ball machine.

** So how do you like the names of Skipper and Marlene's kids? Also, oops, I forgot to put in a description of the two. Let's do that, shall we?

Both – Both of them are about ½ the size of their parents. They both have a head shaped like Marlene's, but there's a hint of flatness due to Skipper.

Annabelle – As I've stated, she's an Otter. Her fur is lighter than Marlene's. Her right foot, like Marlene's, is white. But like Marlene again, her other paws are brown. Eye color? OK, they're like Marlene's brown ones.

Samuel – As I've stated, he's a Penguin. His black feathers are a bit lighter than Skipper's, but they're not overtly so. He doesn't have any brown feathers, though. Like Skipper, for eye color, he's got blue eyes.

*** I had to make up a term that wasn't Pengotters or that might have given it away. Seriously, though, that term is weird (Guinotts, not Pengotters).


	3. Chapter 3 - Two Curious Pengotters

Welcome to the third chapter. So far, so good, hopefully. Let's go.

**CHAPTER 3 – Two Curious Pengotters**

It didn't take long for us all to arrive back at the HQ. The Pengotters and I went below around the table. Kowalski went below as well, but into his lab. The rest stayed up above. "So how long ago were you born?" I asked of the Pengotters.

"About 9 months ago," Sam answered. "So who's older?" I asked. "I am," Anna said happily. "She always uses that as leverage against me," Sam said sadly. "Trust me, I leverage that against my brother as well. But it's all in good fun. It's just natural sibling rivalry," I said.

"I still want to know how we're possible," Anna said. "I don't know how either, but if Pengotters weren't, you two wouldn't be here right now. That's a plus," I said. "True. I certainly wouldn't want to not exist," Sam said. "I do wonder if you would wind up as yourselves or humans in my universe, though. You exist outside the realm of the show, so there's no counterpart human," I said.

"So you wind up here as a Penguin, yet our parents stay the same there?" Anna asked curiously. "They all do. It's certainly intriguing. Kowalski probably knows the answer why, but once again, it's a fun mystery," I said. (P to up top)

"It certainly is nice to see Matthew again," Marlene said. "Yup," Rico said. "I agree," Private said. "Me, too. I just hope he doesn't declassify our secrets," Skipper said. "I almost forgot. I trust him, though. But if it makes you feel any better I'll go down below and keep an eye on him," Marlene said. "Thank you honey," Skipper said, kissing her. * (P back to myself)

"So what are you three talking about?" Marlene asked, walking over after dropping down. "We're trying to figure out if we would stay ourselves or become human if we visited the other universe," Sam answered. "You'd probably stay as yourselves, seeing as your father and I do. It would be odd explaining to the press over there how we had humans, seeing as we're a Otter and a Penguin," Marlene said.

"What about Pengotters?" Anna said. "You two certainly are curious. I wonder which one of us you got that from. Like we've said before, we'll tell you when you're older," Marlene said. "So how long ago was their first time outside the zoo?" I asked Marlene. "Actually, in order to prevent them from ever going feral like I used to, we had them outside the zoo," Marlene answered. **

"What do you mean by feral?" Sam asked his mother. "Trust me, you don't want to know," I said. "There's some things better left unexplained," Marlene said. "One day, you and Dad will have to declassify those files," Anna said. "Sadly for you two, today is not that day," Marlene said with a smirk to the kids.

"I swear, all of you sound almost exactly like Skipper," I said. They all smiled. "I certainly wouldn't want to sound like Rico," Sam said. We all laughed at that. "So what's your family like?" Anna asked.

"Well, there's me, my parents, my brother, and my dog. It's nice. I'm the tech person of the family, but obviously Kowalski could beat me at that," I said. "Kowalski beats all of us at math and science," Sam said.

"So what did you mean by a human counterpart?" Anna asked. "Well, this universe was somehow modified by the original copyright owners when they made the first movie. That's when your father and the rest of the Penguins left the zoo to go to Antarctica, while the quadrupeds went to Madagascar. That's where they all met Julien, Maurice, and Mort," I explained.

"There were two other movies as well, plus the TV show that brought me to your father," Marlene chimed in. "Back in my world, there's people who sound exactly like everyone here. They call them _voice actors_. Ever since everyone here broke what's called the _fourth wall_, those types of shows and movies have gotten more scarce, with everyone fearing there'd be more animals or people like Blowhole out there," I said.

"Oh, right. Now I remember. You've told us that before, Mom. How could we forget that?" Anna asked her. "Too much information since then maybe," Sam said. "You're probably right," Marlene said. "So do you have anymore questions?" I asked the Pengotters.

They both looked at each other for a moment. "Well, I think that's all the questions I've got, how about you sis?" Sam asked. "I think I'm good as well," Anna said. "If you ever have anymore questions, I'll be glad to answer them, as long as your parents haven't classified the response," I said, winking at Marlene.

Suddenly, Kowalski came out from the lab. "I've done it!" he shouted. "What did you invent now Kowalski?" Private asked, dropping down from outside, along with Skipper and Rico. "The Animal Change-O-Matic," he said. "What does it do?" I asked. "It changes animals into other types of animals," Kowalski answered.

"Now why did you create that?" Skipper asked, questioningly. "Since Matthew changes to a Penguin when he's here, but we don't change into humans, I was wondering if I could get us into humans here before we go there," Kowalski said. "Does it work?" Private asked. "I'm not certain right now. Who would like to be the first one to try?" Kowalski asked eagerly.

I stepped back. "I'm already a human, so I must decline," I said. Suddenly Anna and Sam also stepped back. "We're crossbreeds, so we're backing out, too. I don't know how the machine would take that into consideration," Sam said. "And don't you dare think about testing an invention on my wife," Skipper said of Marlene protectively.

"I guess I'll volunteer," Private said. "Splendid. Please go sit on the stool inside the lab," Kowalski said. We all followed the two of them into the lab. After Private sat on the stool, Kowalski plugged in many tubes into Private. "This should be relatively painless," Kowalski tried to assure Private.

He turned the machine on and it looked like it wouldn't fail. Suddenly, it started sparking and bouncing. Private immediately unplugged himself. "Take cover!" Skipper shouted, but it was too late. The machine exploded and a thick purple fog enveloped all of us. We started feeling like we were going to faint. As we did, the last thing I thought I saw was my normal human hand. Then I blacked out.

That's it for chapter 3. Please rate and review. Time for notes.

* I actually came up with this scenario after writing some of the stuff that's now after it. Filled in some missing details.

** In "Otter Gone Wild" Marlene told the guys she had never set foot outside the zoo walls. By being born outside of them, that negates being feral.


	4. Chapter 4 - Changed

Welcome to chapter 4. As usual, *'s means notes, (P) means perspective change, and _italicized_ words means I'm quoting a character or reading.

**CHAPTER 4 – Changed**

I woke up with a splitting headache, which meant I probably fell on my head as I passed out. I placed my hand on my forehead to try to put pressure on my head. "Wait, I've got hands again?" I asked aloud. "Kowalski, you turned us all into humans!" I heard Skipper shout.

Turning around, I could see everyone else as well, but they were now humans, too! We all were ducking because of the low ceiling. Well, it was low now. Looking around, apparently all their former fur and feather patterns had been changed into clothes.

So all of us who had been Penguins were now in suits, except for me. I was in my clothes I had before I jumped through the portal. Anna and Marlene were in normal clothes, except their shirts and pants were brown and white, like their former fur. *

Kowalski was still the tallest of us all; he looked to be maybe 6' 2". Rico was about maybe 5'11"; while Skipper and Marlene were maybe both were about 5'7" or 5'8". Private looked to be 5'3" tall. Sam was probably 3'8", with Anna being slightly taller at 3'9". **

"Kowalski, what happened?" Private asked. "I set my machine to look for the nearest human and make the subject human," Kowalski said. "So basically it scanned me. But why did it malfunction? Is it because I'm technically one species in another's body?" I asked.

"Or did you forget to carry the two again?" Marlene asked. "I carried the two, but I'm not sure why it malfunctioned. It took me a week to build this, it'll take another week to fix it," Kowalski said. Skipper slapped him. "Kowalski, how are we supposed to stay here if we're humans? We'll all be arrested and prosecuted for killing animals," Skipper said.

"If they follow through with that, who knows how long we'll be in jail? We may be stuck as humans forever. No offense Matthew," Marlene said. "None taken, as I'd be away from home forever as well," I said.

"But I feel like something may have been changed in my universe in the process," I continued. "What do you mean?" Kowalski said. "I'm not sure, I just feel it in my gut. Thanks for that, by the way. It's come in handy a few times," I said to Skipper. "You're welcome," Skipper said. ***

"What do you think changed?" Sam asked. "I don't know. Something to do with people or animals or both," I said. "That's all your gut is telling you?" Anna asked. "I think so," I said. "Luckily, I've got my phone, so I can check the news," I finished.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and it was again buzzing. I tapped on a news app and pressed _Watch Live TV_. "Everyone crawled towards me to see what was happening. Suddenly, the video loaded. We all gasped at the sight. "Why am I a dog?" one newscaster was saying. "At least you're a dog, I'm a turtle!" another newscaster said, slowly walking over on the desk.

Skipper slapped Kowalski again. "Kowalski, you changed all the humans into animals over there!" he exclaimed. "It'll really take a week to fix?" I asked Kowalski. "Yes. The zoo opens up in an hour. We need to get out of here to somewhere else," he explained.

"Where could we go that wouldn't raise questions?" Private asked. They all turned their heads towards me. "What?" I asked. "That place seems like the only available option," Skipper said. "Alright. And here I was, wanting a nice vacation," I said. We crawled over to the Penguins' computer to get ourselves transferred for a week to the San Francisco Zoo, which actually wasn't much of a stretch, considering where we were going.

After doing that, we all crawled over to the Universal Walkie Talkie and I pressed the button on it to activate the Portal, as I was the closest to it. "Ready to go see my universe?" I asked the former Pengotters as the portal warmed up. They both nodded.

We all jumped as best as we could towards the Portal, reaching it. It closed behind us. Then I noticed something different. "Kowalski, how come I'm not changing again?" I asked the scientist. "You're already a human, so maybe the bridge between universes is recognizing that. Other than that, I don't know," Kowalski said.

"I have to say, it's a lot less strange being a sister to him now," Anna said, speaking of herself and Sam. "Likewise," Sam said. Suddenly a portal opened up ahead of us. "Brace yourselves. The first portal exit isn't fun," I said. "Why not?" Anna and Sam asked.

"Well, when they came to me, they hit their heads and passed out. When I came with them for the wedding, I was in pain while changing into a Penguin. Hopefully you two have better luck than us," I said. We all passed through the portal and landed on my lawn. "Now I know what you mean. I think I landed on my rear," Sam said, rubbing it. "I think I landed on my rear as well," Anna said.

"Well, at least you're not unconscious like we were," Marlene said. "I'm glad I found you guys before someone else did. If I hadn't found you, who knows what would've happened. Anna and Sam might not exist," I said. "Now do you understand why we keep trying to give you credit?" Skipper asked. "Yeah, I think I do. Come on, let's go inside," I said.

That's it for chapter 4. Nice going Kowalski. Please rate and review. Let's read some notes.

* I suck at descriptions of people or animals. Just look up your favorite pictures of the characters as humans and use them here.

** Is the older twin usually taller? In this case, it is.

*** Thank goodness for the training back in Book 2.


	5. Chapter 5 - Learning To Ride A Apology

Welcome to chapter 5. *'s means notes, (P) means a perspective change, and _italicized_ words means quoting or reading. Let's read.

**CHAPTER 5 – Learning To Ride and An Apology**

Looking at the driveway, I saw the cars were all here. I wondered what kind of animals my family had been changed to. I opened the door and we all walked inside. "Anyone home?" I asked aloud. "We're here," I heard my brother say.

Turning the corner, I saw they had been changed into dogs. "Hey, how come you weren't changed?" my dad asked. "Uh, that's Kowalski's fault. All of this is," I said, pointing to Kowalski. "I thought they weren't human," my mom said. "That's also Kowalski's fault," Skipper said.

"Wait, where's Molly?" I asked, speaking of my dog. "She was in the office. Do you think…?" my brother asked. "I think so. Come on guys," I said motioning to the seven former animals.

"Molly?" I asked, pointing my head around the corner. "Matthew? How'd I get to be human?" my now former dog asked. "That would be my bad," Kowalski said. "It's not just you, it's everyone, except for me. Go out and look for yourself," I said. She left the room.

"Kowalski, how are we going to fix this?" I asked him. "We'll need parts from that lab again," Kowalski said. "Do you have a stopwatch?" I asked. "Rico?" Kowalski asked. Rico tried regurgitating one, but it didn't work. "Nope," Rico said.

"Well if that doesn't beat all," Skipper said. "How are we going to get to that lab this time?" Marlene asked. "We're certainly not taking the car, as we might squash someone with it. It's either walking on biking," I explained. "We don't know how," Anna said, speaking of herself and Sam.

"I guess we'll have to teach you," Skipper said. "Before that, I think we owe an apology and another explanation to everyone. We'll have to do a YouTube live stream apology. Kowalski, can you get it so that the audio or video takes over every screen or stereo?" I asked. "I think so. Just give me an hour or so," he explained.

"Alright. Tell us when you're ready," I said. With that, the rest of us went outside to teach Anna and Sam how to ride bikes. "First you'll need some helmets," Skipper said. We searched high and low for some older ones of my brother's and mine that would fit their heads.

"Why do we need this?" Sam asked, holding one. "Well, if you have an accident and fall on your head, it protects it," Skipper said. "But we've fallen on our heads before," Anna said. "Not while going 15 miles an hour," Marlene said. "Also, slightly different physics here," I added.

Sighing in defeat, they put the helmets on their heads and buckled them closed. "It's a little tight," Anna said. Marlene walked over to her and adjusted the strap. "Is that better?" she asked. "I think so. Thanks mom," Anna said.

With that, we got some bikes and adjusted the seats for their height. "Can your feet touch the ground?" Skipper asked. Both Anna and Sam lowered their feet off the pedals and placed them onto the ground. "Good. Let's get started," Skipper said.

For the next twenty minutes, we taught them about gear shifting, braking, and other needed knowledge. "That's a lot of information. Will we remember it?" Sam asked. "Don't worry. I remember learning to ride a bike for my first time. You never forget once you've learned," I assured Sam and Anna.

With that, we got underway. We had a few near falls, but thanks to everyone's fast reflexes, those were avoided. Skipper and Marlene guided their kids, steadying their bikes when they needed to be. After 10 minutes, it was time for the kids to ride on their own.

"Here goes nothing," both Anna and Sam said. They started slowly pedaling at first, then gained speed and got it. "This is awesome!" Sam exclaimed. They both rode around the street like maniacs, high fiving when they passed each other. "You guys sure learn fast," I said after they stopped. "Thanks. It's actually kind of cool to be a human. You get lots of more things available to you," Anna said.

"Yeah, but not being a human is nice as well. You always get food and you don't have to work. There's only a few reasons why I still like being a human," I said. "Like what?" Sam asked.

"Thumbs," I said, flexing them. Seriously, there are so many cool things you can do with thumbs. You can use technology better, such as playing video games or using thumbprint scanners on stuff. * It's annoying to lose thumbs when I get turned into a Penguin," I said.

"Maybe Kowalski could give us thumbs later," Sam said. "We tried that. It didn't work very well," Skipper said. "When did you try that?" I asked. "After using Maurice's thumbs for nearly a week, we tried after Julien destroyed that lab," Skipper said. ** "It's always Julien. I nearly got pounded by the gorillas because of him," Marlene said. ***

"We could all probably spend day after day of complaining about him," I said. "As a final complaint, I'd like to say April Fools is never fun because of him," Anna said. We all groaned in disgust at the tricks he had played one time or another on us.

Kowalski then came outside. "Everyone, I think we are ready," he said. With that, we all filed inside around my computer. I logged into YouTube and got ready to stream. "Are you guys ready?" I asked everyone. They all nodded. "Well, here we go," I said and pressed the _Start Broadcast_ button.

All over the world, every TV, computer, phone, and stereo began either showing or playing us. "Uh, hello everyone. It's me Matthew [redacted]," I said. **** "As you're all realizing right now, all of you have been changed into animals and all the animals have been changed into people," I said.

"First of all, that's my fault. I was running an experiment back in my dimension to turn us into humans, but something went wrong. It turned all of us into humans, yet it turned all of you into animals," Kowalski explained.

"We'd like to apologize for this problem. Unfortunately, it may take a week for Kowalski to fix this problem. In the mean time, please try to relax inside your homes while we fix this," Marlene said.

"If you have any further questions, please leave them in the comments below if you can," Skipper said. "Once again, it'll take a week to fix this, please stay in your homes, and try to relax," I said. We then shut down the live stream.

"How will everyone take it?" I asked aloud. "I think by some of the reactions we've seen, people will do as we've said and stay in their homes," Kowalski explained. "This will still be one heck of a press conference once this is all over," Skipper said. "I agree. It would be so much easier if we had a Stopwatch, though. To everyone else, this would only be 2 hours of not being a human," I said. "Well, we should get on to the lab so this ends faster. Everyone on the bikes," Skipper ordered.

That's it for chapter 5. Please rate and review. Time for notes.

* Reference to the iPhone 5s.

** Reference to "Thumb Drive" where the Penguins used Maurice to accomplish many missions.

*** Reference to "Best Laid Plantains" where Julien tricked Marlene into eating the gorilla's plantains.

**** I redacted my last name here, for privacy.


	6. Chapter 6 - Old Memories

Welcome to chapter six. Is this story good so far? I hope you like it. Let's read today's installment now.

**CHAPTER 6 – Old Memories**

"So how far away are we from the lab?" Anna asked. "Last time it took us 40 minutes by car, but we had to avoid cars due to Kowalski's stopwatch. It usually takes just 20 minutes by car," I said. "Since we're biking, it will take us approximately 1.5 hours," Kowalski said.

"Remember to watch out for pedestrians," Skipper said. With that, we got underway. Riding down the streets, we saw many former people just sitting on the ground and staring at us. "Even though we've got phones, that still amazes me at the speed news gets around here," Marlene said. "It certainly still amazes me, even with living here," I agreed.

Suddenly, some of the former people started shouting things at us like; "Why did you change us?" and "Change us back now!" Many of them suddenly started chasing us on their paws or feet, depending on the animal. "Angry mob!" I shouted. "Pedal like you mean it!" Skipper ordered.

For half a mile, we were chased by the angry mob. We were getting tired, but had to push on. Eventually realizing they'd probably not catch us, members of the mob started dropping out of the chase until they all left.

"I guess that's how other people will react as well," I said. "We're going to owe them one heck of an apology," Skipper said. "This will be the strangest week of their lives, but hopefully they forgive us," Marlene said.

"How will we stop them if that happens again?" I asked. "We can't fight them, since they didn't do anything to us," Anna said. "How will we stop them if we can't hurt them?" Sam asked. "Private, can you still do your Hyper-Cute?" Kowalski asked. "But I swore I'd never use it again," Private said. *

"How many times have you said that and used it?" I asked. "I think several," Private said. "Alright, I'll use it if we are in dire need of it," he said. "Sorry if it feels like we're forcing you to use it. But don't worry, it'll all work out," I assured him.

"It's better to use the Hyper-Cute than using myself to go feral," Marlene said. "That's something I don't want to see, a feral human. I'm still sorry for that last year," I said. "It was the only way. It's ok," Marlene said. "Seriously, what does feral even mean?" Sam asked. "Once again, you don't want to know," I said.

Going on our trip, we encountered many people who were just trying to understand what was going on. Most weren't in angry mobs, but a few were. Every couple of miles, we'd hear shouting, followed by the "boosh" sound from the Hyper-Cute, where we promptly heard people passing out.

Finally, we reached the lab and parked our bikes. "This time, everyone needs to wear HAZMAT suits. We don't want any mishaps. Also, this time, we're all going together," Skipper said. "Although, that last mishap was the best thing to happen to us," Marlene said. "Agreed," Skipper said and kissed Marlene. **

With that, we walked around inside, seeing some scientists trying to scan their DNA to reverse this or just experiencing not being human. We had to tell each group not to try to do anything, or it might be permanent and that we're on it. Since scientists think things through, they decided to stop doing tests on themselves and just go home.

"We are certainly getting lucky here, with no angry mobs," Anna said. "That's because we scientists weigh all options and decide the best ones," Kowalski said. "And yet, we reversed the world," Skipper said. "Alright, we may not be perfect at everything," Kowalski said. "Sorry. I resort to sarcasm when facing the unknown," Skipper said.

"I remember the first time you said that," I said. "When was that?" Marlene asked curiously. "It's when the hornets invaded the zoo for the first time," I said. The 4 original Penguins shivered at the thought. *** "Uh, sorry for that memory," I said apologetically.

"I remember dad telling us about the DeGousser. That's why it was made, wasn't it?" Anna asked. "Yes. Don't ever use it or you'll wind up as dumb as Mort," Skipper said. "He's not that bad," Marlene said. Skipper simply pointed at his feet. "Ok, yeah, he's still got that problem," Marlene replied. **** "Redefined objective for the win, though," I said.

"If only there were some way to calm Julien down," Sam said. "The chimps tried that before and it backfired on all of us," Skipper said. "Didn't you three get zapped by lighting?" I asked the other Penguins. They nodded. "Those burns did heal awfully fast. It took mere seconds," Kowalski said. "Point for the creators then," I said.

"Speaking of them, I wonder what they look like," Marlene said. "Considering what happened, I'd say they probably look like the normal versions of you guys. I wonder how that's going for them. They probably feel stung enough," I said. "Then let's hope we don't run into them," Private said. "Don't worry, they're down in LA. It'd take them days to get here," I said.

"Did you find anything yet Kowalski?" I asked him. "Yes, I have collected some items," he replied. "Where?" I asked. Kowalski simply pointed at Rico. I face palmed myself. "Of course. How could I forget?" I said.

We then walked into another room. "This room looks familiar," Skipper said. "I think I know why," Marlene said, picking up a substance gently off a countertop. "Isn't that what spilled on you two?" I asked Skipper and Marlene. Marlene put the substance away into a drawer. "It sure is. I remember that as if it were yesterday," Skipper said. "It's honestly the best thing that happened to us. Who knew such a small thing could change so much?" Marlene asked.

"I agree. Plus, I think we now get the other side effects it may have caused," I said. "I think so too," Skipper said. Marlene nodded. "Sorry, but we're lost. What other side effects?" Sam asked. "Classified," Skipper, Marlene, and I all said. "I can't wait to be older so you can declassify the files," Anna said.

"So how much more stuff do we need?" I asked Kowalski. "Well, we'll need some wrenches, oil, and McGuffium, and…" Kowalski said, continuing for five minutes. ***** "I'm sure glad there's McGuffium here. Since you were discovered, it was classified as an official element. I'm just glad the secrets of it and the Higgs Boson are safe," I said.

"Cloning. It causes nothing but trouble," Skipper said. "Is Dode still doing the staring contest?" I asked. "He isn't very bright, so, yes. I wonder what would have happened if we had cloned the correct bird," Kowalski said. "It was chaos! Feathers everywhere!" Skipper exclaimed. "Calm down. It was either that feather or most likely, the pound, if that security guard had found you," I said.

"That was not fun in the pound," Marlene said. "I can see what you mean. You're talking about that, right?" I asked. "Yeah. Being scared like that is not fun," Marlene said. "Well, we fixed that problem. Look at all the great things we've all been able to do since then," Skipper said. "You guys came here, went on a honeymoon, and even took down X on your own," I said.

"Taking down X was certainly exciting. ****** Marlene said happily. "You did well. Where did you learn that maneuver anyway? We hadn't trained you yet," Skipper said. "Inadvertently, you guys did. I actually was able to learn that by watching you," Marlene said.

"A few years ago, I would have been suspicious of that, but now I don't even mind it," Skipper said. "Because I'm your wife, right?" Marlene asked. "More than that, you're family. You're part of our weird, extended family. I don't know what I'd do without any of you. When Blowhole kidnapped you, I was so worried. But, obviously, you two proved yourselves worthy of taking him down," Skipper said. We all smiled at that thought.

"That was hard work. Blowhole is definitely a good arch nemesis. Let's hope he stays Mind Jacked, though," I said. "I'm a bit surprised people still fear him. It's been a year, but it took our New Yorkers only a few days to go back to normal," Kowalski said. "To each dimension their own. But, yeah, it's weird. It helped, though, you guys will remain with free will forever," I said.

"Thank goodness for that," Anna said. "Yeah. I don't want to be erased," Sam said. "As long as I keep that control, you won't. The only way they'll ever make a movie out of you guys is by using the real you guys, not fake ones," I said. "I'd love to be a star again. Curse that scandal back home!" Marlene said. ******* "Based off what you told me, no one in that dimension would let you. But you could try here, when you're all back to normal, seeing no one but me knows what it was," I said.

"You haven't told them?" Marlene asked curiously. "That's your personal matter, so no. They don't even know if you can still… you know," I said. "You're going to keep torturing us with that, aren't you?" Anna asked. "It's quite fun, so yes," Skipper said. "One day, dad, one day," Sam said.

That's the end of chapter 6. I thought it'd be fun for all of us to go nostalgic in this chapter. Please rate and review. See you in the next one. Time for lots of notes.

* Reference to Every Episode where Private used his Hyper-Cute.

** Thank goodness for that accident back in Book 1. Or else there might not be any Skilene and the Pengotters might not exist.

*** Reference to "Sting Operation" where the Hornets first appeared.

**** Reference to "Two Feet High And Rising" where the Penguins tried and failed to cure Mort of his foot problem.

***** I could have continued the information, but that's a lot of stuff Kowalski needs, so I did not.

****** Reference to "Snowmageddon". Seriously, one of the closest to Skilene episodes in existence. Such a great team.

******* Reference to "Tangled In The Web" where Marlene said she couldn't perform due to a still unknown scandal.


	7. Chapter 7 - The Way Back

Welcome to chapter 7. I hope you like Book 3 so far. As usual, *'s means notes, (P) means perspective change, and _italicized_ words means quoting or reading.

**CHAPTER 7 – The Way Back**

"I have collected the necessary parts to rebuild the machine properly," Kowalski said after a few minutes. "Outstanding. Will it still take a week?" Skipper asked. "Unfortunately, yes. But I will be able to get this fixed," Kowalski answered. "Well, that's better than this being permanent," I said. With that, we headed out of the lab.

"Where did all the cars go?" Marlene asked, noticing the parking lot was devoid of any. "That's odd. There were many here, since it was a weekday," I said. "I'd say that the scientists figured out how to operate their cars and drove home," Kowalski said. "Well, they certainly are as resourceful as you guys. I wonder if anyone else has figured that out," I said.

"Hopefully they did. There would be less resentment towards us if that happened," Marlene said. "Well, there's only one way to find out," I said. With that, we got back on our bikes and started heading back home, riding in the bike lane this time.

After a few minutes of just us, cars starting passing us. Most were filled with what we presumed were families or friends, but some were actually the animals that had been turned into humans! "With all this, I wouldn't be surprised if the animals started taking the place of the humans this week," Kowalski said.

"So restaurants and other places would stay open?" I asked. "Most likely," Kowalski replied. "I wonder if they will do any shopping, like we do at home," Marlene said. "As per what items as well. This'll make one interesting week in this universe," I said chuckling.

"Speaking of shopping, could we talk to you for a moment Matthew?" Anna asked. "Skipper?" I checked with him. "Sure. Just no classified information being declassified," he said. "Yes sir," I replied. I slowed down to get to the back of the group, where Anna and Sam were.

"So what's up?" I asked. "Well, our parents' first anniversary is in a few days, and we'd like to get them something," Anna said. "Considering Kowalski said we'll be stuck like this for a week, their anniversary is actually less than a week away," Sam said. "Since Kowalski also said the regular animals might take over for the regular humans in that timeframe and run businesses, we'd like to treat them to a night out," Anna said.

"That's very generous and sweet. I'd be glad to help. I know the perfect plan," I said. "I know a good restaurant close to my house actually. We could sneak out there after they all fall asleep and get them a gift card to it," I continued. "Sounds like a plan," Sam said. (P to Skipper and Marlene)

"What do you think they're talking about?" Marlene asked Skipper. "I'm not sure. I don't think it's any classified information, thanks to my gut," Skipper said. "You know, in that press conference when this is over, we'll have to declassify some things, including… our children," Marlene said. "Oh. Well, I'm sure it'll work out for the best, like everything before has done," Skipper said.

"Yes, like when I told you I was pregnant. You fainted," Marlene said, smiling. Skipper smiled as well. "That was quite a bombshell. I'm glad it worked out well. I love having our children with us all the time," Skipper said. "I love our children, too. They're our little bundles of joy. Just look at them," Marlene said.

They quickly turned their heads back, to see their children and Matthew laughing at something. "I'm glad those three get along so well. If we ever need a break from them due to antics or something, I'm sure Matthew could watch them for us," Skipper said. "I'm sure he could. He just shouldn't declassify any of our secrets yet, like how our children came to be or what going feral means," Marlene said.

"I'm sure he wouldn't. My gut still tells me that he's not divulging secrets. He's the most trusting human we know, in any universe," Skipper said. "That he is. Speaking of humans, I wonder where they all went. We haven't seen any angry mobs since we left the lab. Maybe their former pets are teaching them about what to do," Marlene said. "I sure hope so," Skipper said. (P back to myself)

"You sure do know how to make someone laugh," I said. "Thanks. We learned some of those jokes through the TV," Sam said. "We've learned others from the other animals as well, except Julien. We don't want to make him think it's April Fools or another holiday again," Anna said. "If you ever want to escape that, feel free to come here. There's no way he could get through a portal," I said.

"Thanks. You mean everyone else, too, right?" Sam said. "Of course. Everyone who's here right now is welcome to escape from Julien. I've seen some of the pranks he's done. I know how bad that can be," I said.

"For April Fools, he painted us the color of each other. It took hard scrubbing to get it off. That was not fun," Sam said. "Ugh, that's horrible. But wait, you were born in the summer. How is that April Fools?" I asked curiously. "As our parents told us, he thought it was April Fools. Boy am I not looking forward to that in a couple of days," Anna said.

"I'll save us from that. But ugh, April Fools is for jokes, not pain," I said. "Our parents actually got back at him for that," Anna said. "How?" I asked curiously. "They used an invention of Kowalski's that made it so every time he sat down, it would sound like he sat on a whoopee cushion," Sam said.

I chuckled at imagining Julien freaking out as to why he made sounds whenever he sat down. "That's some pretty sweet revenge," I said. "It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen," Sam said. "Sounds like they really love you guys. I haven't seen them get revenge that often, except maybe a few classified times," I said.

"You mean at Julien, the Vesuvius twins, and X?" Sam asked. "Never mind about classified then. But those were pretty entertaining to watch. Doing the same exact move to take down X was awesome. * And I've never seen your mother more fired up when she and the rest of the zoo tried to get back at them, for well, good reason," I said. **

"They shaved mom's tail. I'd be pretty mad if someone shaved my tail," Anna said. "As I'd be mad if someone chucked garbage at me," Sam said. *** "Thank goodness your father and the rest of the Penguins got them to not bother animals anymore. Stinks for the humans back at your home though," I said. "Like dad said, not our jurisdiction," Anna said. "As long as they don't come back, then yes," I said.

"Hey, I've got an idea to what we can do when your parents are out at dinner in a few days," I said. "What?" Sam and Anna asked curiously. "I'll keep it classified except for one thing: It involves thumbs," I said.

"I'm really getting used to having fingers. I'll be a bit sad when they turn back into flippers," Sam said. "I like the extra abilities you get with a thumb. Thankfully, I have digits, but it'd be nice to keep my thumbs," Anna said. "I agree with you. It was weird, having to get used to only two flippers, the first time I was a Penguin," I said.

"How long did it take you to get used to that?" Sam asked. "Well, after they all trained me, it was easy. Doing the corkscrew for the first time was exhilarating. I'll never forget that," I said smiling. "We'll never forget that either," they both said, smiling as well.

"So how will we avoid falling asleep?" Sam asked. "You live with dad, so I guess you don't know that mom snores. **** I have to use earplugs," Anna answered. "I nearly forgot about that. I was sure Kowalski would find a cure eventually," I said. "I don't know if he's even started to look for one yet. I'll have to remind him when we get this fixed," Anna said.

"So she snores loud, I guess?" Sam asked. "Very. At least she knows that she does," Anna said. "Sounds like we've got a plan then. We'll have to get out of the house very quietly, though. We don't your father to get suspicious," I said. "We've snuck out a few times, so don't worry," Sam said. "Where did you go?" I asked curiously. "We just wanted to explore some parts of the park. It took a few nights of doing that, but eventually we saw what we wanted to see," said Anna.

"Curious and mischievous. You two certainly have interesting traits," I said. "We're an interesting breed," Sam and Anna said. "That you are guys. That you are," I said.

That's the end of chapter 7. Please rate and review. Time for the usual notes.

* Reference to the end of "Snowmageddon".

** Reference to "Night of the Vesuviuses".

*** Reference to the beginning of "Danger Wears A Cape".

**** Reference to "Haunted Habitat", the first episode with Marlene and where we find out she snores.

BONUS: There's a little side project coming out soon. You'll love it. It's pure Skilene. The first chapter of the new project shall be coming out on New Year's. So only two weeks. And that's all I'll say on that.


	8. Chapter 8 - Sneaking Out

Welcome to chapter 8. I hope you like this third book. Reminder: we're all still humans. Oh, and did you catch the little bonus note I left at the end of the last chapter? Anyway, let's start reading this chapter, shall we?

**CHAPTER 8 – Sneaking Out**

We got home fairly quickly. "Kowalski, start setting up the experiment in the garage. Rico and Private, help him out. The rest of us, let's head inside," Skipper ordered. The three guys headed into the garage to start trying to fix the problem we still had, while we went inside.

"So what were you three laughing at?" Marlene asked. "We were laughing at the revenge you two took on Julien on what he thought was April Fools," I said. Both Skipper and Marlene smiled. "That was a good revenge. It's annoying to deal with him when he's like that," Skipper said. "Like I told Anna and Sam, you guys are welcome to come here to escape him on that or any day," I said.

"Thanks. There's only so much you can take of Julien," Marlene said. "No problem. Also, I forgot to ask, so what did he do to you two?" I asked. "On that day, he chained Skipper and I together. Every time we tried to walk anywhere, we'd fall," Marlene said. "How'd you get out of that?" I asked.

"It took some time, but we finally got over to the HQ and had Kowalski use his freeze ray on the lock, which we then shattered," Skipper said. "That was right after he painted us," Anna said. "Chaining us together is one thing, but picking on our kids is another. Naturally, we couldn't hurt him, so we did the next best thing," Marlene said.

"That whoopee cushion idea was a good one," Sam said. "It got him off everyone's case for the day. Thankfully the zoo was closed, so no one asked questions about what happened," Skipper said. "I'm sure Alice would have shrugged it off anyway though," Marlene said. "You're probably right," I said. (P to that night)

Everyone except Anna, Sam, and I had gone to bed nearly 20 minutes earlier. We were in our own rooms. Once we waited to make sure everyone was asleep, we quietly left and started walking to the restaurant. "You're right Anna, Mom sure does snore loud," Sam said. "I don't know how Dad can sleep through that," Anna said.

"He's probably learned to ignore it. Either that or it sets him off to sleep," I said. "If the second thing is the case, then it'll be hard to get him to agree to helping her stop," Anna said sadly. "Let's hope not. You know I couldn't help but notice a coincidence here," I said.

"What?" Sam asked. "The first time they all came here, this was the exact route I took with your mother on the snack retrieval. Now I'm going on the same route with her children," I said. "It certainly is interesting. Both universes sure are strange," Anna said. "They sure are. Honestly, I never thought all of this would happen. Gotta love Kowalski's screw ups sometimes," I said.

"That screw up inadvertently led to us, so yes, that one's good. This present one is just plain weird though," Sam said. "I agree. I don't even know why he wanted to change animals into other ones. It makes me wonder sometimes," Anna said.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "I just wonder if he planned to use it on himself, us, or you," Anna said. "Or even Mom and Dad," Sam said. "That does make you wonder, doesn't it?" I asked. "I'd rather not think about that. I think we should either keep nagging them for the answer or just wait until the files are declassified," Anna said.

"Honestly, I don't know how either. Believe me, when I got back from the wedding and put it on the web, people immediately started drawing Pengotters," I said. "I'd love to see those sometime, to see how close they are to the real us," Sam said. "Some were close, but others were off target. One made you, Sam, brown, while another made you, Anna, black and white," I said.

"Yeah. Those are off target, minus when Julien thought it was April Fools," Anna said. "That's true. Also, when we get to the restaurant, if it's open, if the animals working ask what kind of animals you regularly are, don't say Pengotters," I said. "So what should we say?" Sam asked. "Just say you're a Penguin and an Otter. Besides, we'll have to explain the Pengotter thing later anyway," I said.

"Won't they wonder how we got here?" Anna asked. "It's a weird week. Most are probably happy to be human as well, even for a short time. Also, don't tell them this is our fault," I said. "We wouldn't dream of it. They'd probably want the change to be permanent. We can't have that," Sam said. "Even at your young age, you two sound like your parents sounded when I first saw them on TV," I said.

"When was that?" Anna asked. "It was back in 2009. I remember watching it a lot, seeing what kind of shenanigans would happen at the zoo. It was good fun. Too bad they stopped after the third season, though now I think that's for the best," I said. "Yes, they might have transferred Mom or Dad away, effectively getting rid of us," Sam said. "There would have been a big uproar if that happened, trust me. I don't think they would have wanted to alienate their fan base," I said.

"I wonder how many fans we'll have, once we reveal ourselves," Anna said. "Quite a few, I imagine. Heck, even before all of this happened, people were making Pengotters," I said. They both smiled at that. (P to a few minutes later)

"Looks like the place is open. Let's get the card and get back," I said as we walked inside. "Welcome to [restaurant name redacted]. * Would you care to dine tonight?" the hostess asked. "Actually, we'd like to get a gift card for our parents," Anna said. "Many have done so, as long as we're human. So how much would you like on the card?" the hostess asked. "We'd like $[amount to get a good meal]** on the card, please," I said.

"Please pay in cash. I still have to figure out how to work the credit and debit functions," the hostess said. "No problem," I said, handing the cash. "Thank you. Here is your card," the hostess said, handing the card to me. "Thanks. Have a good night," I said.

"If you don't mind me asking, what types of animals are you usually?" the hostess asked. "I'm a penguin," I said. "What about you two?" the hostess asked of the pair. "I'm usually an otter," Anna said. "I'm also usually a Penguin, but I'm not related to him," Sam said. "I'd love to know how you three got all the way out here and your parents' species," the hostess said. "Well, you'll be able to ask them yourself when they come here," Anna said. "Goodnight," the hostess said. "Goodnight," we said as we left through the door.

"That was surprisingly easy," Sam said. "I agree. Now we'll need to get back before Skipper's gut tells him we're gone," I said. "It failed to tell him when we were gone, but yes, we should probably jog or something," Anna said. We promptly jogged home, with the card safely in my wallet. (P at home)

"Want to borrow my earplugs Anna?" I asked her, whispering. "Yes please," Anna whispered. I passed the earplugs to her. "Looks like we pulled this off. Goodnight you two," I whispered. "Goodnight," they whispered back. With that, we headed off to sleep.

Good chapter? Please rate and review. Time for notes.

* I can't tell you the name of the restaurant, as that'd obviously give away my location.

** It's a good medium-priced restaurant. They make good food.


	9. Chapter 9 - The Mall

Welcome to chapter 9. Merry Christmas to those of you that celebrate it! Shall we read my present to you all?

**CHAPTER 9 – The Mall**

The next day, Anna, Sam, and I managed to keep the surprise classified from everyone else. They actually came out first when I was making some breakfast. "Morning Matthew. What's for breakfast?" Anna asked. "I was going to make some cereal, but now I realized maybe I should make something else. Do you guys like pancakes?" I asked. They both smiled. "I love pancakes," Sam said. * "Perfect. Coming right up," I said.

"Thanks for the earplugs last night. They really helped," Anna said. "No problem. Just make sure to clean them before you give them back," I said. "No problem. So we've got to keep last night's mission classified," Anna said. "Yes. Shouldn't be too hard right?" I asked. "We've had classified information before, this should be easy," Sam said. "Good. Only a few minutes left on the pancakes," I said.

Once the smell of the pancakes drifted throughout the house into the other rooms, they woke everyone else up. "Good morning, everyone," I said as the rest walked into the kitchen. "Good morning," they all said. "Are those pancakes I smell?" Marlene asked eagerly. "They sure are. They'll be ready in a few minutes," I replied.

"I've always loved pancakes," Private said. "Where did you all get to eat your first pancakes?" I asked. "On zoo snoozes. That contraband is a good experience," Skipper said. ** "Gotta love when zoo snoozes bring you enjoyment," I said. We all sat down on various chairs and started talking about our plans for the day.

"So what's on the docket for today?" I asked Skipper. "Well, Kowalski will need to fix everyone's problem of being inhuman or not an animal, but I don't know what else we should do," Skipper said. "What do people usually do here?" Anna asked. "Well, they either work, go on vacation, veg, or just hang out with friends," I answered.

"Personally, I'd like to go somewhere fun and new. What's a good place for that?" Marlene asked. "Well, we could go see a movie, though I'm not sure if those are working yet. We could probably go to the mall and just check out the shops," I suggested. "That sounds like fun," Sam said. "I guess that's what most of us will do today then," I said.

After a few minutes, the pancakes were done. "Here you go everyone," I said, putting pancakes on each of their plates. They all eagerly started eating. "These are really great pancakes," Marlene said between bites. "You really think so?" I asked. "Yes. I can't remember the last times I had pancakes this good," Sam said. "Thanks guys. That means a lot," I said.

"So will we bike, walk, or drive?" Skipper asked. "I don't know how many people turned animals there are walking around right now. Let me check the live cameras scattered around the city," I said. I got my computer from the other room and started viewing the cameras. I noticed no people out and about, but the former animals were walking and even driving.

"They sure learned fast how to be human. I wonder where they learned all this from," I said. "Probably from watching their humans. We learned some things from the humans back home," Skipper said. "And what were they?" I asked. "Classified," Skipper said. "I kind of guessed you would say that," I said.

"You've got some leftover pancake on your face Skipper," Marlene said. "Where?" Skipper asked. Marlene kissed him on the spot where the pancake was. "Right there," she said. We all laughed at that moment. (P to a few minutes later)

"So Kowalski, do you have everything you need?" I asked the scientist. "I believe so," Kowalski said. "That's good. Just call us if anything comes up," I said. "I will. Enjoy your frivolity," Kowalski said. "Thanks. See you later," I said. (P to inside)

"Everyone ready to go?" I asked. They all nodded. "Ok. Let's get in the car," I said. We then proceeded outside and got into the car. "Seatbelts please everyone," I said once everyone got inside before I started the car. As soon as one particular person was done, they said "Ready." Once they all got ready, I started the car.

"So what do you usually do at the mall?" Marlene asked. "Honestly, not much. I don't particularly go shopping for anything. Usually I just check out the new phones that have been released or play games at GameStop," I answered. "Sounds like fun," Private said. "Thanks. Nice to know someone doesn't think that's odd," I said.

"We're the embodiment of odd," Anna said. "Compared to the animals last week and before, you guys certainly are," I said. "I do wonder what will become of everyone in this universe once this is all fixed," Skipper said. "As happened last time, everything will change again. Probably a bit more drastically than just TV and movies, but lifestyles as well," I said.

"How so?" Sam asked. "Well, people will probably treat their pets better, as well as other animals that aren't domesticated or are in zoos," I answered. "Hopefully they don't dissect them like what almost happened to us," Private said. *** "That was too close. Nice shot with the penny though," I said. "Thanks. No one's tried to do that since," Private answered.

"I can't imagine if Julien found that out. It'd be chaos," Marlene said. "Knowing him, he'd probably wish for the items he wished for last time and then for something else," Skipper said. "He might wish that April Fools was every single day," Anna said. "There is no way I could deal with that every single day of my life," Sam said.

"You would definitely have to move here, completely away from him," I said. "That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing," Private said. "Of course not. You'd get constant requests from people to meet you and have to do interviews though," I said. "Any interviews are better than permanent April Fools with Julien," Skipper said. "Ain't that the truth," I said. (P to the mall)

"Well, here it is guys. This is my local mall," I said, once it came into view. "Wow. It looks really nice," Marlene said. "Thanks. It just got some improvements a few years ago," I said. "What kind of improvements?" Skipper asked. "New entrances, new restaurants, and Wi-Fi," I said. "Gotta love improvements to things. Hopefully it's open to at least browse around," Sam said. "Well, considering we changed things around yesterday during the day, it probably is. Look at all the cars," I said.

"That is a lot of cars. Will we find a parking space?" Private asked. "I've managed to find parking spaces during the holidays, so most likely," I said. Shortly after I said that, we found a parking space and parked and got out of the car.

We walked through the automatic doors. "Well, that settles than then," I said. We turned the corner and started heading through the mall. "Wow, this is really big. They certainly sell a lot of stuff here," Marlene said. "I agree. It's a nice place to go when you have nothing to do. Unfortunately, I get mobbed when I come here lately. This is the first time in months I'm not getting requests to meet you guys from total strangers," I said.

"Well, now if they wanted to meet us, albeit while we're human right now, they could," Anna said. "It certainly would be the first time anyone besides me knew of you guys. I know a lot of Skilene fans who would love to meet you in any form," I said, speaking to both Anna and Sam. They both smiled.

"What's that big area with all the couches?" Skipper asked. "That? During most of the year, it's what your seeing right now, a relaxation area. During Christmas, they set up a big _meet Santa_ area. One time, they even got Nintendo here to show off new games. **** They haven't been back since," I said sadly.

"What's this place and why is there an apple on top?" Private asked as we walked in front of a store. "Ah, it's the Apple Store. I always like going here. They sell iPhones, iPods, iPads, Macs, and more. You can also use the demo units while you're here," I said. With that, we all entered the store, walking past the other animals turned people to use some devices.

"What's this?" Anna asked me. "Nice first pick. This is an iPad. It's basically a larger version of those iPhones over there. Go ahead, tap an icon and you'll get to do something, such as play a game, watch a video, or more," I said. Anna then tapped on an app. "Tiny Wings?" she asked when the screen showed the game title. "That game's a classic. It's fun. The tutorial should help you out," I said. *****

I then helped everyone else understand what device they were using. Even some of the animals I didn't know were asking for advice. "With all these questions, feel like I'm an actual employee now," I said. "You mean you don't work here?" Private asked.

"I would, but it's hard to just blend in to the crowd, if you know what I mean," I replied. "I could see how that's annoying. Maybe for a few days after we get this all straightened out, the mall could hire us so people could meet us and stop asking you," Marlene said. "That'd be really nice of you guys. I'm sure you all would draw a big crowd from miles around," I said. "Happy to help," Skipper said.

After a few hours at the mall and a secret mission made by the kids and myself, it was time to head home. We had gotten their parents a gift card to the restaurant, but we almost forgot they would need some clothes to look even better at the restaurant. We had gone to one of the clothing stores on the excuse that the kids needed to go to the bathroom and got Marlene a dress and Skipper a nice suit for the restaurant. Those were hidden in a special spot in the car. ******

"So was that fun guys?" I asked everyone while driving home. "Yes. It's nice that you live so close to this. I just wish they were selling things," Marlene said. "They probably haven't figured out how to do that yet here," I said. "Eventually, some of them will have to figure it out," Skipper said.

"You're probably right. But who knows?" I said. Neither Sam, Anna, or I said anything further, in order to not spoil the surprise. "It was certainly a nice change of pace from our usual missions," Skipper said. "I'm glad you guys enjoyed it. Yes, we'll have to do it again in the future," I said. (P to that night)

"That was fun today and risky. I'm glad we pulled that mission off without a hitch," I whispered to Anna and Sam. "It certainly was close. Thank goodness we got those clothes quick and we got the correct ones," Anna whispered. "I hope Mom and Dad will like the surprise tomorrow," Sam whispered.

"I'm sure they will. Boy, it'll be hard to be nonchalant, won't it? I put the items in the same place I keep the Universal Walkie Talkie," I said. "Does dad know where that is?" Sam asked. "Not in the slightest. Even my family doesn't know where it is," I responded. "That's good," Sam said. "Goodnight," Anna and Sam said. "Goodnight guys," I said and we proceeded to our rooms.

Good chapter? It was long wasn't it? Please rate and review. Oh, and this storyline will continue, in tandem with my new project. Sorry if that was unclear in the little notes in 7 and 8. Anyway, time for notes.

* Random idea that just popped into my head.

** Referencing "Night Of The Vesuviuses".

*** Referencing "Wishful Thinking".

**** Seriously, that's true. It was awesome. I wish they'd come back eventually.

***** Tiny Wings is always a fun iPhone/iPod/iPad game. If you have one of those, the app is $1 on an iPhone or an iPod Touch, and $3 on the iPad.

****** I would have written this part, but you guys are probably tired of reading for this long, so I cut it. I could put it in if you want me to, though.


	10. Chapter 10 - Morning

Welcome to chapter 10. As usual, *'s = notes, (P) means perspective change, and _italicized_ words means reading or quoting. Let's read this, eh? Also, if this is a duplicate, let me know so I can fix that and upload chapter 11. Also, Happy New Year!

**CHAPTER 10 – Morning**

When I woke up, I thought there was something different going on. Then I remembered, it had been one year exactly since we all had changed the world forever, along with the first anniversary of Skipper and Marlene's marriage.

A lot of stuff had certainly changed around here and there since then. Those guys got permanent free will, along with the kids, while I had to fight for their free will, along with go to interviews. I only wondered how much would change again after our current problem was solved.

With those thoughts, I went to the kitchen to reheat some leftover pancakes, only to find Anna and Sam already there. "Well you two sure rise early," I said. "Something made us get up early today," Sam said. "Same here. For you two, I don't know what made you get up, but maybe for me, it's because it's been a year since Blowhole and the marriage," I said.

"I would certainly love to see those videos of mom taking down Blowhole," Anna said. "As much as I'd love to show you, those are classified for now," I said. "Why?" Sam asked. "Well, to actually stop Blowhole, feralness came into play," I said. Both of them sighed. "We certainly hope you can show us one day," Anna said. "As do I. So let's talk about their anniversary instead," I said.

"You've still got the clothes and the gift card?" Sam asked. "Yep. They're still safely stored away. You guys certainly are good planners," I said. "Thanks. We must've gotten that from Dad," Anna said happily. "I certainly don't doubt that," I agreed.

"So how are we going to present it to them?" I asked. "Well, we can't seem too uninterested or it'll look like we don't care," Sam said. "On the other hand, if we're too interested, Dad might get suspicious," Anna said. I chuckled a bit. "Really? He'd be suspicious of his own children?" I asked. Both of them chuckled as well. "Yeah. Both Dad and Mom are," Sam said. "A suspicious Marlene. I never thought I'd see the day," I said.

"Seems Dad's traits have rubbed off on all of us," Anna said. "Better than Julien's traits," I said. We all laughed softly at that, in order not to wake anyone else up. "Dad's paranoia rubbed off on mom, his gut instincts were adopted by you, and we got his planning skills," Sam said. "Yep. Put us four together and you've basically got your father," I said. We chuckled again. (P to an hour later)

"They all sure are sleeping for a long time," I said. "Maybe they were tired from the mall," Anna suggested. "Interesting that we're not. It must be a generational thing," I said. "Maybe. At least it's giving us time to plan today," Sam said. "Now that's something to be thankful for," Anna said. "I agree," I said.

"So we'll go in with everything and present it to them as a surprise, right?" Sam asked. "I think that it'd be fun for them to see their children present them with their gifts and know we've been able to pull off several missions without them knowing," I said. "What about you?" Anna asked.

"It was all your idea guys. Every single part. All I did was fund it. I'm sure they'll thank me later. Plus, it's still kind've weird to see them as humans," I said. "Well, yes, they probably will. Well, we'll see you in a few minutes," Sam said. "Good luck guys," I said. "Thanks," they both said. (P to Skipper and Marlene)

After many hours of sleeping, Skipper and Marlene finally woke up. Looking at each other, they immediately knew what day it was. "Happy anniversary Marlene," Skipper said. "Happy anniversary Skipper," Marlene said. They then both kissed each other. "I miss your beak," Marlene said to Skipper. "As I miss your fur," Skipper said to Marlene.

"At least we know how Matthew feels when he's a Penguin," Marlene said. "Yes. It certainly is strange to not have feathers or a beak," Skipper said. "I miss my little paws and tail as well," Marlene said. "I'm sure our kids feel the same way," Skipper said. "Speaking of them, they were certainly were gone for a long time at the mall yesterday," Marlene said.

"I agree. I wonder what they were up to. At least we know they're not spies," Skipper said. Marlene smirked at him. "I remember when you thought everyone was a spy," she said. "The only time I thought you were a spy was when you wound up in the HQ from one of the old passages," Skipper said. They both smiled at that memory. "You sure all frightened me out of my wits, for a little bit," Marlene said.

"That meeting sure changed our lives. After you left, I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time. Love," Skipper said. "I felt that, too, except for the first time. I wonder why it took so long for us to admit our feelings to each other," Marlene said. "Based on what Matthew told us, I'd say those creators interfered. The closest we got was when your fur was bleached," Skipper said.

"You thought I was a mink named Arlene, yet you still drew the real me on the wall. * I still don't know how I missed that," Marlene said. "I don't know how I missed that either," Skipper said. "I also kept jumping on you while split from my feral side," Marlene said. "I was a bit surprised when you kept doing that. It was great we finally got that solved," Skipper said. **

Marlene kissed him again. "Thank you for helping me to control that side, too. It really came in handy last year," she said. "Our love for each other helps both of us. You did a great job taking down Blowhole," Skipper said. "Thank you. My first kiss with you, as you know, brought me back from the feral brink," Marlene said. ***

Just then, they heard a knock on the door to the room. "Come in," they both said. Both Anna and Sam walked in. "Good morning Mom and Dad," they both said. "Good morning kids," both Skipper and Marlene replied. Suddenly they realized that their kids were hiding some stuff behind their backs. "What are you two holding?" Skipper asked suspiciously.

That's the end of chapter 10. Did you like the Skilene? Please review the chapter. Oh, and this story is still going on, in case my note in the last chapter was unclear. So here's the notes for this chapter.

* Reference to "The Otter Woman".

** Reference to "Littlefoot".

*** Reference to the end of the battle with Blowhole back in Book 2.


	11. Chapter 11 - An Anniversary Dinner

Welcome to chapter 11. Darn it, I messed up with the chapters. I'm truly sorry for the mistake. I swear it won't happen again. I hope this Skilene makes up for it. Once again, I'm really sorry.

**CHAPTER 11 – An Anniversary Dinner**

"Happy anniversary Mom and Dad!" both Anna and Sam exclaimed, bringing out the presents wrapped in gift paper from behind their backs. Skipper and Marlene's faces were filled with joy and surprise. "What are these?" Marlene asked. "They're your anniversary presents. Go ahead, open these first," Anna said, handing a box to each parent.

Skipper and Marlene eagerly went through the wrapping paper and opened each box. "Wow, what a beautiful dress!" Marlene exclaimed happily when she discovered what was inside. "Wow. This is a great suit!" Skipper exclaimed. "These are great kids, but what will we use them for back home?" Marlene asked. "We don't know what you'll do with them when we get home, but we know what you can do with them now," Sam said, handing an envelope to his parents.

Once again, the couple eagerly opened the envelope to find a gift card inside. "Aw, you shouldn't have," Marlene said happily. "It's our pleasure Mom and Dad," Anna said. "How did you afford all this?" Skipper asked. "We have our methods," Sam said. Knowing what they meant, Skipper and Marlene simply decided to talk about that later.

"Thank you children," Skipper and Marlene said, while each hugging a child. "You're welcome Mom and Dad," Anna and Sam said, hugging them back. The children then left the room and closed the door to give their parents time to relish at what just happened.

"I can't believe they did all this for us!" Marlene exclaimed happily. "I know. We've raised a couple of good kids," Skipper said. They then kissed. "Now we know what they were doing yesterday," Marlene said. "Yes. I think we're either both slipping or they're getting better at being covert," Skipper said. "I think it's the former," Marlene said. They both laughed at that.

"I can't believe Matthew was in on this, too. He's getting good as well," Skipper said. "I agree. Then again, we did train him. There has to be some way we can repay him for this," Marlene said. "You know how he is Marlene. He'll say something like _It was all your kids' idea; you don't need to repay me_," Skipper said. "That's true. We should at least thank him," Marlene said. "You're absolutely right," Skipper said. (P to me)

Out in the kitchen, I could hear the delight and surprise Skipper and Marlene were experiencing. They had absolutely no idea this was coming. It must be the first surprise they had gotten in a long time.

For Marlene, the last time this kind of surprise must have happened was when Skipper proposed to her. For Skipper, it must have been when Marlene told him that she was pregnant. "Boy, will they have a fun evening," I thought to myself.

Anna and Sam then walked in. "So I gather it went well?" I asked knowingly. They were both smiling. "Yes. You should have seen the delight on their faces," Anna said. "I could hear them from out here. You guys did good," I said. "Thanks. They'll certainly have fun tonight," Sam said. "That's just what I was thinking as well," I said. (P to that night)

So the plan for tonight was Skipper and Marlene would go on their anniversary dinner, Kowalski, Private, and Rico would go out and gather more supplies from the lab, and I would be watching Anna and Sam. *

"Thank you again for the dress," Marlene said to the three of us. "And thank you for the suit," Skipper said. "We're glad you like them," I said. "I don't know how we'll be able to keep these when we're animals again though," Marlene said. "Kowalski can probably zap the clothes with his shrink ray," Sam suggested. Their faces lit up. "I almost forgot about the shrink ray," Skipper said. (P to a few minutes later)

"Well, have fun you two," I said to them. "We will. Thank you again for the presents," Marlene said. "You three have fun as well, just not too much. And don't leak any classified information Matthew," Skipper said. "Don't worry, I won't," I said, saluting. With that they closed the door behind them, heading to the restaurant. (P to Skipper and Marlene)

It was a beautiful night, so Skipper and Marlene decided to walk to the restaurant. "I still can't believe how much has changed in the nearly year and a half since we first came here," Marlene said. "Me too. We went from being unsure of how to admit our feelings to being married with kids," Skipper said.

They both smiled at all the memories from the past year and a half. "That love formula certainly did do the trick," Skipper said. "Yes. Besides getting us to admit our feelings, I think it also changed something else," Marlene said. "Me too. As Kowalski noted after we told him you were pregnant, our DNA was slightly altered from before we left," Skipper said. "In one specific area," Marlene said. **

"We did kind of beat him to that, though, in our own way," Marlene continued. "That we did. I still remember seeing the shock on his face and subsequent hours of him running the math," Skipper said. "I don't think I ever saw him so confused and panicked before then," Marlene said. They both chuckled at that memory.

"Will we ever tell our children about how they came to be?" Marlene asked. "I'm sure we'll have to soon, seeing as we'll have to go to another press conference explaining the problem to everyone here," Skipper said. "We'll definitely get many questions from the press how our children are possible," Marlene said. "Yes, but our children will finally stop asking us that question," Skipper said. "I sure am looking forward to that," Marlene said. They both laughed. (P to the restaurant)

Skipper and Marlene walked through the door to the restaurant, which was actually a bit crowded, but not enough to not want to go. "Good evening and welcome to [restaurant name redacted]," the hostess said. *** "Good evening. Table for two please," Skipper said. "Wonderful. We have a few available. I'll take you to one now," the hostess said. When they reached the table, Skipper pulled out the chair for Marlene, as any gentleman should do for a lady.

"Thank you Skipper," Marlene said after she sat down. "You're welcome Marlene," Skipper said as he sat down in his chair. The hostess then walked back to the entrance, while a waiter walked over. "Good evening. I'll be your waiter for tonight. Before I begin, I must ask you what I've asked every patron tonight: What species are you two normally?" the waiter asked. Marlene and Skipper looked at each other for a moment, before saying they were an Otter and a Penguin respectively.

"How did you two wind up all the way out here?" the waiter asked. "Honestly, we're not sure. We're still trying to figure that out," Marlene said. "As am I. I'm starting to miss my tail from when I was a dog. Now with that, what would you like to eat tonight?" the waiter asked.

"What do you have?" Skipper asked. "Well, seeing as we're trying to learn from the humans who own and work at this place still, we don't have as much as we usually do. But we do have pizza, bread, soup, and salads to eat. To drink, we still only have water," the waiter said.

"I think I would like a salad with some water please," Marlene said. "Very good madam. And you sir?" the waiter asked. "I think I would like some of the pizza along with water as well please," Skipper said. "Very well. I'll go place your order now," the waiter said and left to go give the orders to the cooks.

After a little bit, the food arrived at the table. "Thank you," Skipper and Marlene each said as they received their food. "You're welcome. Enjoy your meals," the waiter said before going to another table.

Skipper and Marlene then began to eat their food. "This is really good," Skipper said. "I agree. Those three picked a good restaurant," Marlene said. "I wonder when they got the time to get over here to get that gift card, though. They probably snuck away again," Skipper said. "We might have trained them almost too well," Marlene said.

"When we get back to our world, we'll have to train ourselves for awhile to get up to speed on their movements. They probably got here when we were sleeping," Skipper said. "Any more time with you is time well spent," Marlene said happily. They both smiled at that comment. (P to after dinner)

With their meal done and paid for, Skipper and Marlene started to head back. "That was a great dinner," Skipper said. "It sure was. We really need to thank them for the wonderful anniversary gifts," Marlene said. "We certainly do. I wonder what they are doing back there though," Skipper said. "We put Matthew in charge of our kids until we got back. I'm sure they're probably having fun," Marlene said.

"My gut is saying there was nothing classified leaked," Skipper said. Marlene chuckled at him mentioning his gut. "Did your gut ever tell you what I felt about you before we came here for the first time?" Marlene asked. "Somehow, you were able to mask that from it. It takes some skills to hide anything from my gut instinct," Skipper said.

"That or the creators interfered. Again. If we ever meet them, I'd like to talk to them about why they prevented us from expressing our feelings," Marlene said. "I agree wholeheartedly. One of these days, we'll have to run into them," Skipper said. Marlene kissed him. "And do that in front of them as well," Marlene said. They laughed and continued walking home. (P to home)

Skipper and Marlene quietly walked through the door. Instead of announcing themselves, they simply decided to figure out where everyone was. The kids and Matthew were all in their own beds. "Looks like they had fun," Marlene whispered. "Yes. Let's try to get to bed without waking them," Skipper whispered.

They quietly walked through to the back of the house, noticing Private, Rico, and Kowalski were all asleep as well in their rooms. Seeing a note on Kowalski's door, Skipper grabbed it before they went into their room. "What does it say?" Marlene asked. "It says: _Construction of the new Animal Change-O-Matic_ _is complete. We should be ready to return everyone back to his or her species tomorrow_," Skipper said, reading aloud quietly.

"So I guess this is our last night as humans," Marlene said. "It seems that way. It was fun being humans for awhile," Skipper said. "I agree. I look forward to being an Otter again though," Marlene said. "I look forward to being a Penguin as well," Skipper said. "I'll finally be able to kiss you on your beak again," Marlene said. They both chuckled softly.

After a few minutes, they were both ready for bed. "Goodnight Skipper," Marlene said. "Goodnight Marlene," Skipper said. With that, they both fell asleep.

That's a wrap. It's really hard to write good Skilene. Did you like it? Please review. Once again, I'm sorry for my total error. But I hope this and the start of my new story _Skilene Holidays_ make up for this. Time for the notes for this chapter.

* Want to know what I did with the Pengotters? That'll be answered in the next chapter.

** DNA change, eh? Interesting.

*** Still can't reveal the name of the restaurant, for location privacy. Sorry.


	12. Chapter 12 - An Evening With Pengotters

Welcome to chapter 12. Once again, I'm so sorry for the mess up last chapter. I once again swear it won't happen again. So this chapter takes place at the same time as the last one. So on TV, it'd probably cycle back and forth between the locations. So let's see what we all did, eh?

**CHAPTER 12 – An Evening With Pengotters**

"So Matthew, could we borrow your car to get to the lab?" Private asked me. "Sure. But please be careful. I may be able to afford the occasional gifts, but I can't afford to replace or fix my car," I said. "I can guarantee there will not be any damage to your car," Kowalski said. "That's good. I'll see you three later," I said. I gave them my keys and they left.

"So now it's just us three. What do you have planned for us?" Anna asked eagerly. "Well, what would you like to do?" I asked. The two looked at leach other before saying, "Something with thumbs." I chuckled. "You remembered that from the bike ride I guess," I said. "We probably inherited our memory keeping skills from Dad as well," Sam said.

"I don't doubt it. So, while you two have thumbs and can use them, let's play some video games," I suggested. "Sounds fun. What do you have?" Anna asked. "Well, I'm going to keep it appropriate for your ages, but we'll have fun with that. Have you ever heard of Mario Kart?" I asked.

"I've overheard some of the visitors to the zoo talk about it, I think," Sam said. "Luckily for you guys, I've got a copy of it. Now would you prefer to play with the wheel, the wired controller, or the remote with the accessory?" I asked.

"The wheel," they both answered eagerly. "Now you guys sound like me," I said. They smiled as I placed the Wii remotes into the wheels and connected the remotes to the Wii. "No wires needed?" Sam asked. "Yep. It was the first console to do that. It was revolutionary at the time," I said, putting the disc into the Wii.

"So do we just turn the wheel or do these buttons do things too?" Anna asked. "Well, you turn the wheel to turn your character on the screen, the _2_ button makes you go forward, the _1_ button lets you go in reverse, and the _B_ button is to use powerups," I explained.

"Powerups?" Sam asked eagerly. "Yes. There's fourteen total. I'll explain as we play," I said. After a minute of navigating the menu, we got to the character selection. As per my character, I naturally selected Mario. Sam and Anna selected Luigi and Yoshi, respectively. "Which kart is the best?" Anna asked. "I'd go with the _Mach Bike_. It's a good all-around vehicle," I said. We picked that and looked at the 32 course options.

"How did they design so many tracks?" Sam asked. "I'm not sure. The ones on the top are completely new, while the ones on the bottom are classic tracks," I said. "What's a good one to start with?" Anna asked. "I'd say _Mario Circuit_. It teaches you a lot of the basics," I said. With that decision, we started to play.

After a couple of races on _Mario Circuit_,_ Koopa Cape_,and _Maple Treeway_, it was time for the fourth race. * "I think I would like a good challenge," Sam said. "Me too," Anna agreed. "Alright, then let's go with one of the hardest courses, _Rainbow Road_," I said. **

Anna and Sam struggled a bit at first, but then they were passing everyone. We were getting close to the end. "You guys sure learn fast," I said. "Yep. We're almost up to you," Sam said. "We'll see about that," I replied. Suddenly, a blue shell came out of nowhere and hit me. I panicked a bit as both of them passed me, but we suddenly got to the final turn and they fell off the track.

"You were right, that course is tough yet fun," Sam said. "Glad you thought of it as that. Now what would you like to do?" I asked them. Suddenly they both said, "I'm hungry." We all chuckled. "Well what would you like to eat?" I asked. They both thought for a moment before exclaiming "Pizza!" "Did you eat that on your first zoo snooze as well?" I asked. "Yep," they both answered as we headed into the kitchen.

"One of these days, I'll need to drop in on one. I'll have to remember not to speak though," I said. "Why?" Sam asked. "I think since everyone here can understand you guys, the reverse effect might be for me there. Can't risk that," I said. "We could always tape a leaf to your mouth," Anna said jokingly. *** "Just like your mother," I said.

"That scream Julien made must've been loud for her to do that," Sam said. "I think it was. All of them wore earmuffs to block it out," I explained. "That gave dad the corkscrew though, so it's not all bad," Anna said. "Nope. But thankfully Julien hasn't lost the crown since then. I remember your mother running at him with a crowbar after he got his spare crown," I said.

"She didn't hit him though, she told us that," Sam said. "So that's how it ended, eh? She just frightened him off?" I asked. "Yes. Even though she was mad at him, she restrained herself," Anna explained.

We were getting all the ingredients for pizza together. "That's something I'm sure your father admires her for. She only uses violence if absolutely necessary," I said. "Or if he says so," Sam said. **** "How often is that?" I asked curiously. "Almost never, at least as far as we know," Anna explained. "The only time I've seen her use violence is on X," I said, as we put sauce on the crust.

"I'd love to see that," Sam said. "Well, considering it's not classified except for 3 seconds which I will mute, I guess I could show you while the pizza is cooking," I said. ***** Their faces lit up in anticipation of being able to see their parents in action. "Can we sprinkle the cheese?" Anna asked. "Sure. Go ahead," I said, handing the bag of cheese to them. They put the cheese evenly spread out over the pizza. "Is this good?" Sam asked. "Perfect. Would you like to put toppings on?" I asked.

"Nah. Let's just try a simple cheese one," Sam suggested. "My favorite kind," I said. "Really?" Anna asked. "Yes. I really like cheese with the occasional meatball one. I also for some reason only like fish when I'm a Penguin," I said. "Another mystery to not ask Kowalski," Sam said. "Yep," I agreed. We all laughed at that and put the pizza into the oven carefully.

"So how long will it take?" Anna asked. "Probably no more than 15 minutes. Which is good, since each episode is only 11 minutes. I'll be right back," I said, as I went to fetch my laptop. I quickly grabbed it and set it to AirPlay the video from it to the TV.

The kids eagerly sat down on the couch to watch the TV. "So that was the intro to the show?" Sam asked, after that segment was over. "Yep," I said. "I like how even back then, they made mom and dad high five," Anna said. "I think those creators knew something the fans didn't know at the time, sort of," I said.

"Snowmageddon. I remember them telling us about that storm," Sam said. "Now we can see how bad it was," Anna said. "Yep. We'll have to remember to get them something football related when their next birthday is upon us," I said, after the football game appeared. I knew what was about to come up, so I prepared to mute the TV and did so at the correct time. "So I gather that was the classified part?" Sam asked. "Yep," I said.

They burst out in laughter as they saw their mother dragging their father out of the frame. "Mom really wanted to go on snack retrieval," Anna said, between laughs. "She certainly did," I agreed. (P to a minute later)

"Slushichinos. We'll get some for them later," Sam commented. "Just like dad. Ignoring something he thinks is false," Anna said after they saw Skipper watch the weather report. "X looks formidable," Sam said. "True. But just watch," I said.

"He can smell specific animals, huh?" Anna asked. "Yes. I wonder if he'd smell me as a Penguin or human, since I'm a penguinized human there," I said. "Probably a penguin," Sam suggested. (P to a minute later)

"One-liners. Ugh," Anna said. "Tell me about it," I agreed. "Aw, he saved and caught mom," Sam said. "Yep. That sparked more fan stuff of them," I said. (P to another minute after) "Seems mom was eager to get out of that cold," Anna said, after seeing her run from the freezer. "Yep," I said. (P to another minute)

"He captured dad. Never thought I'd see him captured," Sam said. "Mom looks like she's planning something though," Anna said. I merely stayed quiet to not spoil the fun. "That was a nice move," Sam said, after seeing the slushichino machine explode and knock X through the door.

"Oh! They're both captured!" Anna exclaimed after X woke up and caught them. When the manhole landed on his foot and Skipper and Marlene both knocked X out, both of the kids cheered. "That was awesome!" they exclaimed after they saw their parents standing on X. "That's exactly what I said when I saw that for the first time," I said agreeing. ******

"Seems they missed the game though," Sam said. "That's probably why dad got the DVR," Anna said. We all chuckled at that. Suddenly, the oven beeped and I put on the oven mitts before opening it, while the two sat down at the table. I opened the oven, let the heat escape for a few seconds and put the pizza above it to cool off.

We all smelled the pizza. "That smells really good," Anna said. I got the pizza cutter out of the drawer and cut the pizza into an even number of slices for us each. I placed several slices onto plates for us and put them all at spots on the table in front of us and we dug in.

"Mmm," we all said as we took a first bite. "We did a great job on this pizza," I said. The two simply nodded since they had some pizza in their mouths. After a few minutes, we finished our first slice. "It's so much easier to eat pizza with teeth," Sam said. "Welcome to the joys of being a mammal," Anna replied. We all laughed at that.

We made our way through our slices and then started to clean. I think we all felt like Skipper was somehow watching us, so we cleaned up extremely fast, but well. "I wish Dad was here to authorize us getting snow cones for that," Sam said. "He put you in charge, does that mean you could authorize that?" Anna asked of me. "I don't think so, unfortunately. During training, your father explicitly said only he could authorize snow cone missions," I sad sadly.

Suddenly, my car pulled into the driveway. "Looks like Private, Kowalski, and Rico are back," Sam said. "Time to go assess the car," I said. We headed outside. "So how did it go?" I asked Kowalski. "It went well. I now have all the parts we need to complete the new Animal Change-O-Matic and reverse this," Kowalski explained, while giving me my keys back.

"Sounds good. Looks like there is no damage to my car, as you said there wouldn't be," I replied while overlooking my car. "So we did good?" Private asked. "Let me put it this way: If I were Skipper, I'd authorize all of us to go get snow cones," I said as we walked into the house.

We then all helped Kowalski to rebuild his invention, while explaining what we did. After a little over an hour, we finally finished and were getting pretty tired. "So who thinks we should go to bed?" I asked. Everyone raised his or her hand. "Alright, then let's get to bed. Kowalski, you should write a note to Skipper that your machine is ready to go for tomorrow," I said to him. He then wrote his note and taped it to his door.

"Goodnight everyone," I said. We then all said goodnight to each other by name, which actually took a couple of minutes. We then went into our rooms and fell asleep.

That's a wrap. Pengotters are fun to hang out with. Please review this chapter. Time for many notes. Also my new story, _Skilene Holidays_ is out. Go ahead and check it out! But first, the notes.

* You play 4 races in a row by default in Mario Kart.

** On your first try, Rainbow Road is a hard course.

*** Referencing "Crown Fools" where Marlene stopped Julien's screaming by taping a leaf to his mouth.

**** Referencing "Fit to Print" where Skipper pretty much says those words himself.

***** In "Snowmageddon" Marlene says _Plus, I don't go all snarl-growl crazy outside the zoo anymore_. That's being feral, that's why those seconds are classified.

****** I know I left out the parts with Rico, Kowalski, Private, and Fred, but this chapter would've been even longer. Plus, the kids mainly wanted to see their parents on a mission together.


	13. Chapter 13 - Back To Normal

Welcome to chapter 13. I hope you like this third book so far. I'm still terribly sorry for the mess-up with chapter 11. That was a terrible way to start off the New Year. But 2014 will be massive. Now let's read this chapter, shall we?

**CHAPTER 13 – Back To Normal**

We must have all slept for a long time, because when I woke up, my clock on my nightstand said it was almost 11 am and I didn't hear anything from the other rooms. "Last night was fun with the kids. I just hope Skipper approves of what I did," I thought to myself.

"I also hope Skipper and Marlene had fun. I'll have to ask them about their dinner later," I thought to myself. I got out of my bed and walked over to my computer on my desk. I turned it on and looked to see if anyone else out there was doing anything. Looking online, many people were just doing fun things for cameras on social media, such as acting cute and cuddly and the like, much like the 7 back at their home.

After I looked at a few videos or so, I got YouTube ready for the live stream we would be doing later. I stopped when I got to the streaming page, since the rest weren't in here yet.

I left my room and went to the kitchen. Skipper and Marlene were already out there. I guess they heard me come in, because they turned their heads towards me. "Good morning," I said to them. "Good morning," they replied.

"So how was your dinner last night?" I asked the two. They both smiled. "It was the most romantic dinner I've ever had," Skipper said. "I loved it too. Thank you so much for it," Marlene said. "No problem. You've certainly raised your children well. They really love you for planning that," I said.

"We've got a perfect way to thank them for that," Skipper said. "Since we're going to have to tell the press how they are possible, we'll allow them to hear that," Marlene said. "Sounds like a good reward for those two. I've got the perfect way to introduce them," I said. "You do?" Skipper asked. "Yes," I said and then explained how. *

They laughed when I told them how. "That will be fun. I can't wait to see our fans reactions," Marlene said. "As do I," Skipper said. "One of these days, we'll have to get you onto a talk show with the creators too," I said. Suddenly, they both kissed each other. "And do that as well," they said. We laughed again.

"So what did you do with the kids last night?" Skipper asked. I explained to them that we played video games, ate pizza, and I showed them their parents fighting X, along with us rebuilding the Animal Change-O-Matic. "I didn't reveal any classified information with that right?" I asked. "Since you muted the part about me saying I no longer go feral, you didn't. So they enjoyed seeing us in action?" Marlene asked. "Very much. They cheered when you both kicked X into the snow," I explained. They both smiled at that memory.

We all turned our heads at the sound of everyone else coming in. "Good morning," we all said to each other. "So it seems we all had a good final night as humans," Skipper said, speaking of him and the other six. Everyone nodded in agreement. "So are you guys ready to get back to being yourselves again?" I asked the group. "Yes," they answered.

"Before we turn back into animals, can we take a photo of us all as humans first?" Anna asked. We chuckled. "Yes, let me just get my phone and its camera," I said. I quickly fetched it and my tripod and we took several photos. "We should probably issue a warning message to everyone that we are going to change them all back," Kowalski said. "That's exactly what I was thinking," I said.

We all once again gathered around the computer, but the kids stayed out of the frame, so we could surprise everyone later. "Hello everyone. This is Matthew again, with some good news this time," I said to the camera. "I have fixed my invention and we are ready to return all of you to your normal species," Kowalski said. "So if you are using heavy machinery, such as a car, please stop and park it, that way no accidents occur," Marlene said.

"We hope you enjoyed your time as a different species, but we also hope you will like being back to normal again," Skipper said. "Thank you to those of you that did not form angry mobs at the beginning of this. Have a great day," I said. With that, we ended the live stream. On traffic cameras around the world, we saw the animals stop their cars, obeying our orders.

"I'll stand outside while you turn back to normal, since I'm supposed to be a human here," I said to everyone. "Sounds like a good idea," Skipper said. We closed all the ventilation first, to prevent any leakage in case another purple fog developed. I left the room. When that happened, I heard the invention turn on and quickly turn off without an explosion.

I waited for a moment, just in case, and then opened the door. This time, they hadn't blacked out. Everyone was back to being themselves again. "Yay, we're back to normal!" Anna and Sam exclaimed. Marlene kissed Skipper. "Finally. I've missed your beak," Marlene said to him. Skipper simply blushed.

"Now we can have that press conference and explain what happened," Kowalski said. "Not to mention, we can finally reveal ourselves," Sam said. "I've got a plan for that," I said, and told them. They laughed. "Sounds like a plan," Anna said. "So Moscone again?" Skipper asked. "Yes. I can't reveal to the world where I live or they'll be outside all the time, waiting for you guys to drop in," I said.

We did another live stream, this time exclusively to the press, saying to be at Moscone in two hours, giving us time to get there, along with prep for the kids' reveal. After we ended that, we all got into the car and put our seatbelts on. We saw many cars, once again under control of the regular humans. Their pets were also in the cars. Strangely, none of them seemed to understand each other, like we could of each other.

"Kowalski, why can't the other people understand their pets?" I asked the scientist. "Maybe since we passed between universes, only those who do so can understand other species," Kowalski suggested. "Well, then at least I get to be unique in that way," I said. We all laughed. (P to 30 minutes later)

We all were passing onto the Bay Bridge. "Now I see why you said it was a bad idea to go over the bridge when we went to stop Blowhole," Marlene said. ** "Yes, it's very open. If he had roamed out of the city, he would have spotted you two, since you would have been the only car," Skipper said. "We've seen you and Mom take down X, when will we get to see Mom take down Blowhole?" Anna asked. "Another time," Marlene replied coyly. (P to 15 minutes later)

We easily found a spot in a parking garage across from Moscone and there weren't many cars or people around yet, so no one saw the kids. Thanks to Marlene and Anna picking the locks, we easily got into Moscone. "I wish evolution allowed me to do that," I said after we got inside.

"Millions of years ago, it probably did," Kowalski said. "Mother nature sure is strange," Skipper said. "She gave you us, so that's another point for her," Sam said. Not wanting to reveal what they had planned shortly, Skipper and Marlene simply said while hugging the children, "Yes, it is."

We then got our plan into action of organizing the press conference seats and table we would all sit at, which was on an elevated stage. We covered it with an oversized cloth, though. It covered the table itself for the microphones and the front as well. The kids would be hiding underneath the table, to surprise the press. "So when will we come out from under here?" Anna asked. "Towards the end of the conference, we'll say we have one last thing to show to the press," I explained. They smiled. "Sounds good," Sam said.

We all started to hear news vans and other cars pull up outside. Sam and Anna disappeared beneath the table, to hide until it was time. Mere seconds after they did so, the press started streaming in and began to place TV cameras in optimal places and gave microphones to us, which we placed on the table. "Ready guys?" I asked them all. The five at the table nodded in agreement, while Sam and Anna tapped my feet in agreement as well.

End of the chapter. Everyone's back to normal now. And now it's time for the Pengotters to reveal themselves. That'll come next chapter. Please rate and review this one. Time for notes.

* Wanted to save that fun bit for later.

** Referencing Book 2, where I said to Marlene that going over the bridge probably wasn't a good idea.


	14. Chapter 14 - A Pengotter Reveal

Welcome to chapter 14. As usual, *'s = notes, (P) means perspective or time change, and _italicized_ words means quoting or reading. Let's reveal the Pengotters to the world, shall we?

**CHAPTER 14 – A Pengotter Reveal**

The six of us at the table chuckled to ourselves, knowing that we had once again managed to change the world forever, not to mention it was now a year since we had done that last time. We also had another fun surprise as well, just like last time.

"Thank you for coming. We'll take questions now," I said to the press. Like last time, they started shouting and raising their hands and begging to ask questions. "You there," I said, pointing to a reporter. * "How come all the species were changed around for the last week?" they asked. "That was my fault. I was experimenting to see if we could just change ourselves into humans for when we came here, but for a reason I still don't know, it malfunctioned," Kowalski said.

"How come we can still understand you guys, but I can no longer understand my dog?" another reporter asked. "I have a theory that people can only talk to other species if they get changed by the universe itself. Seeing as I did that and the universe did not, that's probably why," Kowalski explained.

"Can we travel to the other universe so we can understand our pets again?" another reported asked. "Absolutely not," Skipper said. "You can't, as it might throw the balance of people out of whack. We're not going to let anyone else travel back and forth except for ourselves," I said. The press looked crestfallen and not being able to explore an alternate universe.

"Next question," I said to the press. "You there," I said to another reporter. "Is that Blowhole dolphin from last year still defeated?" they asked. "Yes. He is still defeated and still does not have a memory of what happened here," Skipper answered. "How long is that expected to last?" another asked. "I'm not sure. Skipper had his spirit guide, which helped him in a few days, while last time Blowhole was Mind Jacked for only a few months," Kowalski answered. *

"Next question," I said. I picked another reporter who asked, "Are you two still together?" they asked of Skipper and Marlene. They simply kissed each other and showed off their rings and replied with "Does that answer your question?" Everyone laughed, knowing it did.

"Any more questions?" I asked the press. Many raised their hands and I picked another reporter who asked, "So have they trained you and have you gone on any missions with them yet?" I looked at Skipper for approval to answer that question and he nodded that I could answer it.

"I thought I've answered this question before, but I'll answer it again. Yes, they all helped train me the day after the wedding. One of these days we'll have to show you all our simultaneous corkscrews. I've been on a few missions, but nothing major yet," I answered.

I covered my microphones and asked the five, "Now is a good time to reveal the kids, right?" Skipper covered his microphone and said, "Yes. Let's have some fun." We chuckled to ourselves, confusing the press for a moment.

I uncovered my microphones. "Now before we wrap this conference up, we have something we would like to show you. Annabelle, Samuel, would you like to come out now?" I asked the two through the microphones. While they got ready, I grabbed two additional chairs. The press suddenly was growing wide-eyed at the mention of two names they had never heard before, knowing these were completely new animals.

After I set the chairs down, Anna and Sam clambered up them and sat down, looking at the crowd. "Hello, it's nice to be here," they said, while simply smiling at the shocked press. Immediately, every single press member raised their hands to ask questions to the two and many cameras started going off, taking pictures of the two.

"You may ask your question," I said to a reporter. "Who are you two?" they asked. "I'm Annabelle, but please call me Anna," she said. "I'm Samuel, but please call me Sam," he said. "So where did you two come from?" a reporter asked. They replied slyly, "Our parents."

"Who are your parents?" another one asked. Sam and Anna looked at each other before Anna said, "We're twin Pengotters. Would you care to guess?" The even more shocked press looked back and forth between them and Skipper and Marlene. "How can a bird and a mammal have children?" someone asked.

"Well, I suppose it's time we told our children that as well, what do you think Marlene?" Skipper asked her, yet knowing her response. "Oh, I definitely think so. Are you ready to learn children?" Marlene asked the kids. "Yes, yes!" they shouted, desiring the answer they had seeked for so long.

"When we first came here, while we were at the lab, a substance fell off a counter and splashed on us," Skipper said. Besides getting us to admit our feelings we had for so long, it also maybe did something else during our first kiss," Marlene said.

"Presumably during our kiss, something changed in our DNA. Something was copied between us, specifically for reproduction genes," Skipper said. "We didn't know that had happened until I became pregnant after our honeymoon," Marlene said. "I ran the math with their changed and original DNA for hours and it worked out with the changed DNA," Kowalski said.

"But before you go and use that substance on every single species, it only works between people or animals that love each other in the first place," Skipper said. "So unless you could say, get a dog and a cat to love each other, it won't work. Forcing them to do so won't work either. They must love each other genuinely," Marlene said. "And that's how you two came to be," Skipper and Marlene said to the kids. **

"So we're the result of a science experiment?" Sam asked. "Yes. If not for it, you two would not exist and we may never have gotten married," Skipper said to both of the kids. "Well, at least it wasn't one of Kowalski's inventions or I'd be panicking that we might disappear or something," Anna said.

"Speaking of that, why did you create that invention Kowalski?" Marlene asked. "I wanted to see if we could be humans for when we came here. That way, we could have a disguise, considering Matthew told us about all the fans we have had before and after all of this happening," Kowalski answered.

"That was the first option you thought of?" I asked Kowalski. "Yes, but now it's back to the drawing board, since our humans identities were revealed," he responded. "Just give us all a warning before next time please," Marlene said. After that, the attention turned back to the kids.

"So how old are you two?" a reporter asked the kids. "We're both 9 months old. I'm the older one," Anna said proudly. "Only by a few minutes," Sam said quickly. The press laughed at the obvious sibling rivalry that was taking place.

"So do you two have any of the same skills as both of your parents?" a reporter asked the kids. "Well, we've both been trained by them for fighting skills, so that we do have," Sam said. "We've also been trained to act cute and cuddly back home for the zoo guests. Other than that we're still not sure," Anna said. ***

"Have you two been on any missions as well?" another person asked. The kids looked at their parents, who nodded approvingly at them. "Well, we did run missions here for our parents' anniversary yesterday, plus help out with other missions around the zoo," Sam said.

"We've helped feed animals Alice has forgotten to feed, not to mention clean up after some messy ones. We've also made sure no chlorine mishaps happen again, like one did with Mom," Anna explained. The six of us who saw and experienced what happened that day chuckled to ourselves at their mention of the Arlene mishap. ****

"How have you two controlled your feral sides so fast?" a reporter asked. The six of us who knew what that meant became slightly irritated. "We still don't even know what feral means," Sam said. "That is still classified for now, but there's part of that we can answer," Skipper said.

"Unlike me, our children don't have a feral side at all. We got around that by having them in the park, outside the zoo walls. After all, if your first moments are not in captivity, you're not going wild, as you already are," Marlene answered. ***** "So that's how that works," I thought to myself.

"Time for one final question," I said to the press. Again, hands went up. I picked the final reporter who asked, "How are you all going home? You don't seem to have that Segway thing from last time or any other device." In order to keep the secret of the Universal Walkie Talkie safe, we all said "Classified." The press looked disappointed at our answer, but accepted it.

It was time to wrap up this press conference. "Thank you all for coming this afternoon. As one final thought to leave with, now that you've had experience as animals, please don't be cruel to them," I said. "If you are cruel to them, you will have learned absolutely nothing from this and we will find you," Skipper said. With that, the press shut down their cameras and collected their microphones from us and left.

"That was fun," Anna and Sam said. "I'm glad you two enjoyed it. But if we all go on interviews a lot again, it might get less fun," I said. "One of the first interviews will be with the creators though," Skipper said. "I'll definitely try to do that, seeing as I am the head PR man," I replied.

"Well, let's clean up everyone. It's rude to leave a mess anywhere," Skipper said. With that, we all grabbed the chairs, folded them up and put them back in their spots. We also put the table back, along with the cloth we had used for the microphones and to hide the kids. "Well done everyone. A new record. Snow cones when we get back!" Skipper said. We all cheered, knowing we would get a reward for all this.

With that, we headed out. "I do wonder what our fans think of what we said," Marlene said. "Not to mention what they think of us, now that they know we exist," Anna said. "Well, even before Blowhole last year, Pengotters were a popular subject. It grew even more popular after that, when I put the wedding video online. I imagine it will explode now," I said.

"Kaboom?" Rico asked, regurgitating a piece of dynamite that was thankfully unlit. "Not that type of Kaboom! He means a large increase in a short period of time," Kowalski explained. "Aw man," Rico said, swallowing it. ****** The kids chuckled to themselves at that. I didn't know if it was because of the situation or because they had used dynamite before, so I made a mental note to ask them later.

We reached the street and by this time, all the usual cars and pedestrians were out. The pedestrians looked at us, but passed by, not mobbing us either because of the Pengotters or because they might still have been still angry. We walked across the street at the correct time and all piled in the car in the parking garage and started heading out.

"Finally, I can take a nice vacation. That's my last press conference, at least for a few weeks," I said. "Yes, we'll all put ourselves back in the system with the computer you bought us," Skipper said. "Has that come in handy for any missions?" I asked, curiously.

"Actually, it saved us two from being transferred," Marlene said while hugging Anna. "Thank goodness for that. How did you stop that?" I asked. "We managed to get into Alice's email and saw before she arrived that someone wanted to have two female Otters transferred to Copenhagen," Kowalski answered.

"Denmark. Of all the places to send my wife and daughter, someone wanted to send them to Denmark," Skipper said. "Alice was not at the zoo yet, so we managed to delete the email and therefore the transfer threat. But for a few days, Alice kept getting emails asking for our transfer," Anna said.

"We kept not responding and deleting and eventually the offers stopped coming in," Anna finished. "Boy, am I glad I got you guys that computer. We might never have seen you again," I said. "After that, we managed to make ourselves immune to any transfers, except by ourselves," Kowalski said. ******

We kept driving back towards the bridge entrance to get home. Suddenly, many people started running at the car. Not knowing the reason why, I immediately locked the doors and the windows. "What's going on? Why are they coming here?" Private asked.

Suddenly we were surrounded. "We're surrounded," Skipper said. "Brilliant observation. What could they want?" I asked. People began shouting things like, "Look, it's the Pengotters!" and "Oh my gosh, Pengotters are finally real!" "I guess that's why," Skipper said.

"I guess we have fans now," Sam said. Both of them, since we were now stuck in the middle of the crowd, stood up and waved at the crowd. The crowd was going absolutely nuts. Suddenly, some of them began pounding on the windows very hard, wanting to have the kids to themselves. Anna and Sam immediately stopped waving and ran into their parents' laps in fear.

Unfortunately, that only made the crowd more adamant to get inside. "Kowalski, is there any way out of this?" I asked, panicked. "Press that button on the dashboard," Kowalski said pointing to one. I immediately hit it, no questions asked. Suddenly, the car started vibrating rapidly and all the rabid fans backed off.

"What's going on?" I asked Kowalski. "While we were in the lab, we made a way for us to get out of somewhere quickly in the car. We gave the car…" Kowalski started to say. It suddenly rose off the ground a few feet. "You made my car fly?" I asked. "Yes. It should get us out of here. Just drive like you normally would, except tilt the wheel upwards or downwards to ascend or descend," Kowalski explained. *******

I immediately titled the wheel upwards and sent us up and out of the city, without having to go on the bridge. "This is really cool Kowalski, but I wish you had asked first," I said. "Sorry about that. But I did have some of the scientists help with my math, so it shouldn't fail," Kowalski said.

We were driving above the path to get home, yet altering it since we could go over hills and water no problem. "Kowalski, I've got an improvement idea. For the next one, can you make an Iron Man suit instead that we can call to ourselves in times of need?" I asked.

"What's an Iron Man suit?" everyone asked. "I guess you haven't seen those movies before. Next movie night, I'll show you all the movies from the first Iron Man through the soon to be released Avengers 2," I said. ********

Thankfully we got home and no airplanes or helicopters spotted us, so we landed without a hitch or any press. We entered and my family was all back to normal. Strangely, though, I was the only one who could talk to my dog again. *********

With that, it was time to go home and on vacation. "Ready everyone?" I asked. "Yes," they all said. We first grabbed the clothes Marlene and Skipper had worn on their anniversary dinner for them to have.

With that, I activated my Universal Walkie Talkie and when the Portal formed, we jumped in. Once again, I changed into a Penguin. "Boy am I glad the bridge fixed the problem for me as well," I said. Another Portal formed and we all landed in the HQ and put ourselves back from the transfer.

That's a wrap on this chapter. Dang, some fans are nuts over the Pengotters. Sorry this chapter was so long. Please rate and review it, though. Time for the set of notes.

* I'd once again use real names of famous reporters, but cannot due to Fan Fiction's rules. Sorry.

** Do you like that way of creating the Pengotters? I hope you do.

*** That gives me an idea as well.

**** Referencing "The Otter Woman".

***** See the upcoming epilogue for further information.

****** Couldn't resist doing a dynamite gag.

******* Flying car idea just came to me. Saved all our butts, though.

******** Remember, this takes place in the future, specifically March 2015. So Captain America 2 and Guardians of The Galaxy have already come out and Avengers 2 is a few weeks out. Also, that was a reference to the Mark 42 suit in Iron Man 3, which Tony Stark can call to himself. I won't do any crossovers though, sorry. Trying to stay as close to the only two universes as possible. But who wouldn't want an Iron Man suit?

********* I essentially dropped them from the storyline after chapter 5, I know. But they were off doing their own things next door for the time they were reversed, so that everyone could stay here while we were all stuck.


	15. Chapter 15 - Performances

That last chapter was extremely long, I know. I think that was the longest chapter I've ever written, by far. But welcome to the new chapter 15. Same stuff applies as usual for *'s, (P)'s and _italicized_ words.

**CHAPTER 15 – Performances**

We got all of our chairs and sat them up on the platform. "Finally. No rabid fans, no interviews, just rest and relaxation," I said to the group. "Missions and training are relaxing?" Anna asked me. "Believe me, I'll take those any day over what we experienced in the car," I said. "That was frightening. I've never seen any humans act like that over us," Sam said.

"They don't know you're our children and they also don't know you're crossbreeds. If they did, you would be dissected," Skipper said. We all shivered at the thought of that. "Thankfully, they only think you're a regular Penguin and a regular Otter," Marlene said. "If only we could all perform together without raising any suspicions," Anna said sadly.

"Thankfully we can do that back at my world. But it would be fun here too. Especially since we wouldn't have to worry about getting mobbed," I said. "I declare tonight to be movie night, so Kowalski can learn how to make that suit you mentioned," Skipper said. *

"Great! We'll have to use the Stopwatch though, since all of the movie times total are over 18 hours combined," I explained. "We'll have popcorn right?" Marlene asked eagerly. ** We all chuckled at the mentioning of popcorn. "Of course. What else are you supposed to eat during a movie?" Skipper answered. (P to an hour later)

In the interim time before the zoo opened, we all helped each other clean the habitats spotless. Since we did it again in record time, we would get double snow cones later. It was time for the zoo to open, so we quickly scurried to the areas we had to be at.

"Let's make it extra cute and cuddly today boys," Skipper said. We performed at our best, since no one had seen us in a week. We belly slid, pretended to fall in the pool, threw each other in the air and caught each other, and actually did a simultaneous corkscrew, which to them just looked like we were having fun. After we finished, they dumped all of their fish onto us. It took a minute or two to dig through all the fish and get back to the surface.

"Have you ever seen this much fish?" I asked Skipper. "Never. They must have really missed us and were impressed," he answered. "This is 50% more fish than we usually get," Kowalski put in. "It must have been the corkscrew," Sam said, while happily eating a fish. "How many times have I told you not to talk with your mouth full?" Skipper asked him. After he swallowed the fish, Sam said apologetically, "Sorry I forgot." The rest of us chuckled at the father/son moment.

The crowds had made there way over to the girls' habitat. It was normal for everyone to watch them, but for me, it was actually the first time I've seen Marlene perform, other than a few short times. ***

To start off, they both slid down the slide and once they launched off, they corkscrewed into the pond. They immediately jumped out and grabbed the beach ball and hit it back and forth, using their paws, backs, and even their tails. After they were done passing it back and forth, they hopped onto it and rode it around like a unicycle. The crowd was going nuts over the tricks. As a final move, they both put pressure down on the ball to a near breaking point and launched very high, even more than when they had launched off the slide. They landed perfectly with one digit on the ball each.

The crowd went nuts, even as to violate the _Do Not Feed The Animals_ Policy and threw popcorn to them, which they happily caught in their mouths and ate. "So much for the _Do Not Feed The Animals _Policy, I guess," I said to the guys. "Actually, thanks to the computer again, we changed the policy on the website," Skipper said. I chuckled. "Nice workaround. I would have done the same thing," I said.

"Technology is truly amazing," Kowalski said. "Yes, when it's used in the correct way," I said. "Yes, the Mind Jacker is amazing, but a different kind," Kowalski said. "Speaking of that, you did make it so the kids couldn't activate it again right?" Skipper asked.

"Now how did you get down to level 13?" I asked Sam curiously. **** "Well, it was an accident. Our curiosity got the better of us and we pressed the elevator button. In fear of the giant eye, Anna activated the panel for level 13 and pressed the button, which sent us to the untested inventions," Sam explained.

Suddenly, the bell started ringing, signaling the zoo was closing. The people and Alice filed out, leaving us to our own night to have. Marlene and Anna made their way over to us and we all started talking again.

"I don't think I've actually seen you perform before Marlene. You two did a great job," I said to the girls. They both had big smiles. "Thanks. They really missed us, like they missed you guys," Marlene said. "If I was a normal guest, I would have thrown popcorn at you too," I said. "I love doing a corkscrew," Anna said. "I invented that," Skipper said. "We know. Were you trying to have fun or just impress me?" Marlene asked. Skipper blushed. "I think I was trying to impress you," he said. "Well it certainly worked," Marlene said, kissing him. We smiled at the two and the memory.

"Now back to the matter at hand, I thought you guys locked down the Segway," I said to the five. "It was locked down to our genes, but seeing as half our genes went to our children each, they defeated that," Marlene explained. "Both of you pressed the buttons, didn't you?" I asked the kids.

"We accidentally blasted ourselves with the Mind Jacker and the cages," Sam said. "Thankfully you didn't activate the portablizer inside the Segway or you would have been sent to my universe," I said. "I tell you, it was frustrating not being able to remember anything. And embarrassing afterwards, quite frankly," Anna said. "How did you get out of it?" I asked.

"We noticed the kids missing after they weren't in their beds," Skipper said. "After looking around the entire zoo, we decided to use the GPS chips, which is in level 13," Marlene added.

"After you de Mind Jacked and freed us, that was the most embarrassing moment of my life," Sam said. "As punishment, you two received Maintenance Duty for a week, along with double training," Skipper said. "Fair punishment," I said. "As a result, we've stayed clear of there since. I don't want to go through that again," Anna said.

"I'm staying clear of down there as well then. Hey, when did you get to putting GPS chips in them anyway?" I asked, realizing what Marlene had said. "Well, I got mine after the honeymoon. We waited until they were four months old to give them their chips," Marlene answered.

"That itched a lot for a day," Sam said. "Better than us losing you two somewhere," Skipper said. "I still don't have my chip. I guess I'd better get one while I'm here though," I said. "Don't worry, we weren't awake when the chips were put in," Anna assured me. "By asleep do you mean actually asleep or under a dose of medicine?" I asked. "Under a dose of medicine," Kowalski answered.

"Oh, ok. Hopefully it won't be as annoying as when I got my wisdom teeth removed," I said. ***** "What are wisdom teeth?" Sam asked. "A vestigial organ in humans, much like the appendix," Kowalski answered. "I'll show you guys the hilarious results of them being removed later," I said.

With that, we headed out to get our double snow cones and brought them back to the HQ. After we finished the snow cones, I popped out and back into the HQ through the Walkie Talkie's portal and grabbed my laptop for the movies, along with popcorn so we wouldn't have to raid the snack storage facility.

"So instead of watching all of them in a row, let's spread it out over two different nights. After all, we may oversleep and everyone might get suspicious why we aren't coming out," I said. "So phase 1 now and phase 2 tomorrow?" Anna asked. "Funny you're referring it that way, as that's the actual terms they've made. But yes," I said with a chuckle.

"I've got the Stopwatch ready," Kowalski said, holding it. "Good. Everyone place a flipper or paw on it," Skipper ordered. We all did so and it once again stopped time. "Every time we use that, it always amazes me," I said. "As long as I don't get covered in gum again, it amazes me too," Marlene said. "I'm sorry for that. Julien is a handful," Kowalski said. ******

With that, for the next 10 real-time hours, we watched all of Phase 1. Everyone was enjoying the movies, and Kowalski was especially into the scenes in both Iron Man movies when Stark was building and using his suits. After finishing it all with the 2nd after-credits scene in Avengers, our movie marathon was over for the night.

"So which movie was your favorite?" I asked the group. "The Avengers," they all answered. I chuckled. "That combination of all the heroes really made it special didn't it?" I asked. "Along with the great humor," Sam said. "Well, after we watch Phase 2 tomorrow, I'll book us all tickets to the second one in May," I said. "Thanks. Based off all of these, it seems like it'll be really good," Skipper said.

"Now before we unfreeze time, let me put my laptop back to charge," I said. Quickly I popped out and back in. Kowalski pressed the button on the Stopwatch and time unfroze. "Let's put that away before Julien finds it," Marlene said. Kowalski took the Stopwatch with him down to level 13 for Julien to not find and came back.

Suddenly, being tired hit us all at once. We all suddenly all started yawning and rubbing our eyes. "10 hours of movies and a day of performing really takes a lot out of you," Anna said, between yawns. We all yawned in agreement.

"We'd better get back before we get too tired to even move," Marlene said. "Goodnight honey," Skipper said to her. "Goodnight honey," Marlene said, kissing him. "Goodnight daddy," Anna said to Skipper. "Goodnight sweetheart," Skipper said, hugging her. With that, they climbed up and out of the HQ back to their habitat.

The five of us that lived here filed into their bunks, while I got into the guest bed. "Sorry about your current conditions. Tomorrow, we'll make you an official bunk," Skipper said. "Thanks. Goodnight guys," I said. "Goodnight," they all said. It took mere seconds for us all to fall asleep.

Vacation day 1 is going well. Hopefully Kowalski got some good ideas. Marlene and Anna's performance was great. Please rate and review this chapter. Time for notes.

* Am I running out of ideas? I guess I am a bit, for this book.

** Referencing "Popcorn Panic" where Marlene said she couldn't live without popcorn.

*** Those few times are either that quick slide in "The Return Of The Revenge of Dr. Blowhole" and performing with Julien in "Tangled In The Web".

**** Referencing "King Julien For A Day, " where we saw the Penguins had a whole set of floors below the HQ filled with things along with Book 2, where I told Kowalski to keep the Segway someplace safe.

***** Got them removed in Winter 2012. Those things they use to knock you out sure confuse the heck out of you for several hours.

****** Referencing "Time Out" where Julien kept sticking his gum everywhere. I assume he stuck some to Marlene as well as everything and everyone else.


	16. Chapter 16 - Hiding From April Fools

Welcome to chapter 16. Usual stuff applies. So let's see what else we all did, shall we?

**CHAPTER 16 – Hiding From April Fools**

Suddenly, the wake up trumpets sound came from the sound system. Skipper got up quickly to shut it off, while the rest of us got up. We all stretched to prepare for the day. The coffee machine dispensed its usual amount into Skipper's mug, which Skipper put a fish into.

Marlene and Anna dropped down from the top. "Good morning," they said to us. "Good morning," we all said. Skipper suddenly grabbed a second much nicer looking mug and also filled it with coffee, along with two fish. "Here's your morning coffee honey," Skipper said, handing the mug to Marlene. "Thank you," Marlene said to him, drinking it.

I chuckled. "Since when do you drink fish coffee?" I asked Marlene. "I craved some while I was pregnant. It just stuck with me," Marlene explained. "Couldn't kick the habit?" I asked jokingly. She chuckled and said, "I guess not. But if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." That made us all laugh.

After we all finished our breakfast, it was time for training. We all went up to the platform and practiced punching, kicking, weaving, bobbing, spinning, backflips, and various other moves. * Suddenly, something hit the back of my head and I fell onto my face. Anna and Sam helped me back up. "Are you alright?" Anna asked. "I think so. What hit me?" I asked.

"I think it was…" Sam said, before a golf ball hit him in the head, also knocking him to the floor. "A golf ball," I said, finishing his sentence, while Anna and I helped him up. It suddenly started raining golf balls all around us. "Take cover!" Skipper shouted.

We all dove in the entrance and closed it behind us. "So who's hitting golf balls at us?" I asked. Skipper pulled down the periscope and said, "It's Julien. He's not just doing it to us, he's doing it to everyone." "What's today's date?" Private asked.

Marlene pulled down the giant calendar and gulped. "It's April 1st," she said nervously. ** "We should probably bug out," Sam said. We moved like we had never moved before to the lab and activated the Walkie Talkie's Portal and jumped in. It quickly closed behind us. "That was too close. I don't want to know what he planned for us for the rest of the day," Anna said. "I'm certainly glad we have a place to hide for the day," Skipper said.

We all exited the portal and landed on the lawn, with me as a human again. "So you'd rather deal with the press and fans than Julien?" I asked. "Well, maybe the all the fans aren't that nuts for us," Sam said. "Hopefully. At least we're safe here from them and Julien," I said, as we headed inside.

"I would love to see what the fans who didn't mob us think," Anna said. "Always with the fans. You three do love showing off for them," I said to Anna, Sam, and Marlene. "It is fun to do so, considering we were all just TV characters and part of people's imaginations a year and a half ago," Marlene said, smiling.

"Can't fault you for that. I'd been watching you guys for years, but only delved into Skilene a month before you all came here. It was an interesting and awesome coincidence," I said. "So is that why you were a bit stressed when we were interacting?" Skipper asked, speaking of him and Marlene.

"You never miss a beat, do you? When you both told me your feelings, I was trying so hard not to mess up the possibility of all this," I said, motioning to their rings and the kids. "You obviously did well, since we're here," Anna said. "I wouldn't have it any other way. And after you did come here, it was fun to nitpick the fan fictions where people met you," I said.

"I deduce those changed dramatically last year," Kowalski said. "They sure did. The nature of Skilene itself changed, too. Both in fantastic and strange ways," I said. "I can imagine how they turned strange," Skipper said. "Me too," Marlene said. ***

"Sorry but once again I'm lost," Sam said. "Same here," Anna said. "Now that is strictly classified," Skipper said. "100% classified. Plus, you wouldn't want to be scarred for life now would you?" Marlene asked the kids. "No way. We definitely won't bug you for that," Sam said.

"Well, while we're here escaping Julien's wrath of pranks, what do you want to do?" I asked the seven. "Let's watch phase 2 right now, since it is only 9 in the morning," Sam said. I chuckled. "Well, that'll take us to at least 5. What time does Julien stop pranking?" I asked.

"When he thought it was April Fools, he did it until we got back at him," Kowalski explained. "We can think of something to do after then movie too then," I said. For the next 8 hours, we watched all the movies. Everyone said they liked Iron Man 3 the best.

"If any of us finds something like the Tesseract, no one does anything with it," I said. "Just dump it into the ocean into a trench," Skipper ordered. "The possibility of that is 0%," Kowalski said. "Hey, weren't we 0% chance to happen?" Anna asked. "True. But the likelihood of this is truly impossible, since we don't have any potions or something similar this time," Kowalski said. **** "Alright. Now what do we do for four hours?" Sam asked.

"I'll try to line up an interview with the creators. Would you guys like one in person or over the web?" I asked, putting _creators_ in air quotes. "In person, but after we have our escape methods from the fans," Marlene answered. "It should only take me two weeks to make us all suits," Kowalski said. "Using the power cells again, aren't you?" I asked him. "They should provide more than enough for flight," Kowalski replied. "That's good. As long as no Diabologizer blasts hit them," I said. ***** (P to an hour later)

After speaking with many news agencies and reps for the creators, I finally got an interview for us all. I also felt a bit tired, but first I went out to the living room to tell everyone the good news. "Hey guys, guess what?" I asked them all. "You managed to get an interview for us with the creators," Skipper answered.

"How do you know?" I asked. Marlene held up the remote and turned on the TV, muted. "That's how I guess. So what does everyone think?" I asked. "Well, scientists are still confused at us, but the fans can't believe that after all these years, we're finally real," Anna answered. I chuckled. "People love you all. There were people hoping you'd be real as soon as you, Marlene, were seen on TV," I said.

She blushed. "I find that a bit embarrassing that everyone knows I snore. I can't help it," she said. "Can you find a cure for that Kowalski?" Anna asked him. "Am I still keeping you up?" Marlene asked her daughter. "Sometimes. But those earplugs you found in lost and found really help," Anna answered. "I could try to find a cure. There's a cure for everything," Kowalski said.

"I'd really appreciate that. I'd like to stop as well," Marlene said. "Speaking of snoring, I think I'll take a nap for a bit. Will you wake me up an hour before we head back?" I asked. "We sure can. In fact, maybe we should all take a nap," Skipper said. Anna and Sam suddenly yawned. "I guess you agree," Skipper said. They nodded. "Well, I'll see you guys in a few hours," I said. "See you in a few," they all said.

End of the chapter. Boy, I'm glad we got out before Julien could do anything worse. Seems like Kowalski will be able to pull off the escape plan. Sorry this chapter was a little short. There's a reason for that, to be seen in the new one coming soon. Please rate and review this one. Time for notes.

* Referencing the beginning of "Launchtime," where the Penguins were training and Julien hit Private with a golf ball, knocking him down.

** The giant calendar is a reference to "Kipper For Skipper" when Skipper made the Penguins go through Team-Building week. Also, wouldn't experiencing April Fools with Julien make you flee?

*** There's already strange stuff out there. And that's all I have to say on that.

**** Once again, no crossovers. Remember, these are only escape measures, not combat devices.

***** Referencing the Diabologizer blast hitting Julien's MP3 player with the Power Cell inside of it in "The Return Of The Revenge Of Dr. Blowhole".


	17. Chapter 17 - A Curious Otter

Welcome to chapter 17. Usual rules with *'s, (P)'s, and _italicized_ words applies. Let's read what made me shorten the last chapter shall we?

**CHAPTER 17 – A Curious Otter**

(P to an hour later and to Marlene) *

"I really need to do something with all this curiosity," I thought to myself, as I quietly was walking while carrying Matthew's computer on my back. "Something is telling me to look at what people have written about Skipper and I. I just can't help it. But now I know where our kids insatiable curiosity came from," I continued thinking. That thought brought a smile to my face.

"This computer sure is heavy. Then again, it does weigh almost half of what I do," I thought. Managing to walk all the way from his room where the computer was to the living room where no one was took a little bit, but I managed to get there. I gently set the computer down on the floor and turned it on.

The screen blinded me for a few seconds, but then I was fine. There were two accounts and Matthew's was password protected, so I chose the guest account. All it gave me was the Internet, but that was all that I wanted. **

Suddenly, my ears picked up the sound of Skipper's footsteps from down the hall. I dove under the coffee table feeling embarrassed a bit. "Now where did you go honey?" I heard Skipper say. I was still embarrassed, but tried to think of something I could say. "Come on Marlene, you know I'll find you eventually," Skipper said. He was right, as he did find me last time I hid during the honeymoon. Boy that was fun.

I decided to give up and come out. "Hi honey," I said. "Hello. What are you up to?" Skipper asked me. "Classified," I said, using his classic response. "Come on Marlene. You know we agreed to stop that, except for matters with our children," he said. "Sorry. I couldn't help it. And I forgot," I said blushing, embarrassed again.

"So what are you doing with the computer?" Skipper asked me. "My curiosity got the better of me, I think. I was curious about those stories Matthew told us about," I said. Skipper chuckled. "Now we know whom our kids got their curiosity from," he said. "Yes, I guess so. But does that sound ridiculous to you?" I asked, nervously.

"Absolutely not Marlene. Nothing you do is ridiculous," Skipper said. I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. But, should I?" I asked. "We already broke the 4th wall and changed the world twice. I think you have the right," Skipper said. "But is it the right thing philosophically?" I asked. Skipper seemed to be thinking for a minute.

"Well… It's our lives right? But this is your call," Skipper answered. "Ooh, what a dilemma!" I thought to myself. Throughout my head, I was thinking of what could happen to our personalities if we decided to go ahead with this or not. If so, we'd learn what other people think goes on in our heads. If not, I'll always have this itch to learn and may never get another opportunity at this. I decided to tell Skipper what I was thinking.

"Well, if we read these, we'd learn what other people think goes on in our lives. But our personalities might change in response. But if not, we might never know. And we may never get this opportunity again," I said to Skipper.

"You're certainly thinking this through very well. And you're right. We don't know what will become of us if we read these. But we've already got each other and our children. I don't think anything can change that," Skipper said. I smiled and then kissed him. "Thank you again. But can you look with me? I'd love to have someone by my side who understands me as well as you do," I said.

Skipper smiled and said, "Of course Marlene. I'll be with you every step of the way." I kissed him again and we started searching around the Internet and eventually found a site called Fan Fiction. *** There sure were a lot of people who wrote about us.

"Should we look at more recent posts or from before last year?" I asked Skipper. "Let's look at the older ones. After all, Matthew did say after we were discovered, the community around us changed. And you may have first pick," Skipper replied. "Thank you," I said while moving the mouse on the screen.

I changed the list of stories from most recent to most popular. **** Reading the summaries gave me a good idea what they were generally about. Suddenly I noticed a story that was incomplete, but that didn't bother me. What bothered me was that it said I was a spy! I never was and never will be a spy. "As a ground rule, may we stay away from stories that claim we're spies or that set us up with the wrong person to get to each other?" I asked Skipper.

He read the description and I saw it also ruffled his feathers. "Of course Marlene. And, no, you were never a spy, in my eyes. Minus when you stumbled into the HQ for the first time," Skipper said. My heart raced at the memory of the first time I met the Penguins and I guessed Skipper's was as well.

Scrolling, I noticed a story called "I Still Remember" by "Rookie70Penguin." ***** It certainly intrigued me. It looked interesting; especially the description saying the story was _very beautiful and heart jerking_. As the description said, I grabbed some tissues from the coffee table and placed them next to Skipper and I.

Through chapter after chapter, I could sense this person knew us very well, somehow, all the way back in early 2012, way before we came here for the first time in the late middle of 2013. Every time I was tearing up, which was often, I tried to reach for a tissue, but Skipper used his feathers on his flippers instead. "Always caring for everyone," I thought to myself.

After reading the whole thing, Skipper and I simply turned to look at each other. We looked deeply into each other's eyes, my brown ones getting lost in his blue ones and vice versa. After what seemed like an eternity, we kissed in the most loving embrace. The last time we had a kiss like that was… wow, I can't even remember. It might've been during the honeymoon/wedding, after the kids were born or anything else since then.

After what seemed like a second eternity, we finally broke apart. "You certainly picked a good read Marlene. That person sure has our personalities really close to what they really are," Skipper said. "They sure do. And that was a great story. It had times of strife, times of love, and times of mystery," I said.

"Having seven kids at once. I don't think I could handle that. Having two with one right after the other was hard enough. Doing that 7 times over would be insane," I continued. We both chuckled, remembering the pain and beauty that had been the kids' birth. Well, at least I remembered the pain part, since I was the one that experienced it.

"I never knew they were leading up to their personal original character of themself was going to be a secret daughter. And if that had actually happened in our lives, I would have stayed," Skipper said. I kissed him again, in a reward for his loyalty to what our lives could have been.

"I never saw that coming either. I can't imagine what it would be like to be a single mother. Luckily, we've never had that problem," I said. "And we never will," Skipper said, finishing what I was going to say. I kissed him, yet again. "Thank you for promising never to leave me and the kids," I said.

He suddenly kissed me and said, "Marlene, I love you all too much to ever do that. As being wedded states, you're together for the rest of your life." ****** We kissed again, knowing once again, we'd have a long and happy life.

After two more stories, it was time to return the computer. Skipper helped me this time, by climbing on my back to turn the doorknob and go inside Matthew's room and plug the computer in to recharge. Thankfully, he was still asleep, and we didn't wake him, so he will never know what we did unless we tell him.

"So which one was your favorite Skipper?" I asked him after we closed the door. "I would say _I Still Remember_, with GrandOldPenguin's stories, _A Skilene Filled September_, and _East Of Nowhere_ in a close second and third," he answered. "I agree completely," I said.

"It's strange how in _Skilene Filled September_ that it skipped the 3rd story though," I said. ******* "Maybe it was a website error," Skipper suggested. "Or maybe the universe has denied access to it for us," I suggested. ******** We both chuckled at the unlikeliness of that suggestion and then fell asleep in our room with the children.

(P to myself, a few minutes earlier)

Once again, something caused me to wake up all of a sudden. Thanks to the gut instinct I had adopted from Skipper last year, I looked over at my desk across the room and saw my computer was missing. Obviously, it couldn't just up and walk away, so there had to be an explanation.

I suddenly heard Marlene and Skipper's footsteps outside, sounding like they were carrying something that was most likely my computer. I lay back down and acted like I was sleeping. I heard the sound of the door opening and the two quietly entering and putting the computer back on my desk and leaving.

As soon as they shut the door, I sat back up. "Now which one of them actually borrowed it earlier and what did they use it for?" I wondered to myself. Thinking back on my memories of hanging out with them, the show, and the kids, I brought myself to one logical conclusion.

"Marlene. It had to be her. She certainly is a curious Otter. Obviously Skipper caught her, but whatever they she been looking at, Marlene had gotten him to join. Whatever it was, it must've been really important to her," I thought to myself.

"But what could it be, since what she probably thought was most important were Skipper and the kids. Then I remembered she sometimes looked deep in thought between the movies. But only during Phase 2, after I talked about the fan fictions when we walked inside," I continued thinking to myself.

I chuckled softly. "Marlene must've been extremely curious in order to pull that off without me knowing she even came in until now. I wonder when Skipper caught her and what she had been reading when that happened. Maybe something with the kids involved?" I wondered. My gut growled at me, telling me I was wrong. *********

"Alright, alright, so not that," I thought to myself. I thought back to the Skilene I had read before they came here. My gut kept growing at me except for three separate times, for three specific stories. "So _I Still Remember_, _A Skilene Filled September_, and _East of Nowhere_, eh? Hmm… good picks. But I wonder about the 3rd story, seeing as it might reveal to them the existence of Antonio, which could potentially destroy everything," I continued thinking.

My gut growled again when I thought of them discovering it. "I guess not eh? The universe is strange. I'll let them come to me on this though, since it's obviously classified," I thought. With that, I was able to fall back to sleep.

End of the chapter. Please rate and review. Time for a ton of notes.

* I literally thought of this whole chapter randomly. But it has reinforced Skilene, again. I think something told me I needed more Skilene, on top of the anniversary dinner. Did I do good on that? I've got lots of notes today.

** On a Mac running 10.7 Lion or newer, all the guest account gives you is Safari, Apple's web browser. Also, my MacBook weighs 3.5 pounds.

*** Yup. They came here.

**** I know the site doesn't have that feature right now. Eventually they'll probably build it in.

***** One of the most beautiful pieces of Skilene I've ever read. Go read it, it's fantastic.

****** Penguins and Otters are monogamous species, meaning they only have one partner their whole life. Thanks for that info, Wikipedia.

******* If you read that third story, you know why it skipped it.

******** Was it the universe that skipped it? I think so. Good on the universe.

********* Referencing Skipper's own gut in "Gut Instinct".


End file.
